nega vs nem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nega” is a verb and “nem” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,117
“nega” frequency rank: #121
“nem” frequency rank: 5238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nega	nem
Definition	terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo negar	não

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nega and nem apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

nega

3 ch

nem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nega is /ˈnɛ.ɡɐ/ while nem is /ˈnɐ̃j̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nega is recorded at frequency rank #5,117, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈnɛ.ɡɐ/. nem is at rank #121, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈnɐ̃j̃/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 5238, this pair ranks #69,434 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nega vs nem

Shared letters: en. Private to "nega": ag. Private to "nem": m.

"nega" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "nem" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

nega ← enga · neag · negga · ngea · nnega

Frequency comparison

nega#5,117

nem#121

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nega" and "nem" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nega" is a verb and "nem" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "nega" or "nem"?

"nem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #121 in our Portuguese list, against #5,117 for "nega". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nega vs nem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “nega”; for an adverb, it's “nem”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nega” entry
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