negavsneveWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nega is a verb, neve is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#5,117
“nega” frequency rank
#3,787
“neve” frequency rank
8904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nega neve
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo negar precipitação de cristais de gelo, frequentemente agrupados em flocos e formados pelo congelamento do vapor de água que se encontra suspenso na atmosfera

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
nega
4 ch
neve

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nega is /ˈnɛ.ɡɐ/ while neve is /ˈnɛ.vɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8904, 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/. neve is at rank #3,787, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈnɛ.vɨ/.

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 8904, this pair ranks #64,709 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nega vs neve

Shared letters: en. Private to "nega": ag. Private to "neve": v.

"nega" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "neve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • negaenga · neag · negga · ngea · nnega
  • neveenve · neev · nevve · nneve · nvee

Frequency comparison

nega#5,117
neve#3,787

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nega" and "neve" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nega" is a verb and "neve" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nega" or "neve"?
"neve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,787 in our Portuguese list, against #5,117 for "nega". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nega vs neve

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “nega”; for a noun, it's “neve”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nega” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list