negavsnextConfusable pair

Quick tell: nega is a verb, next is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#5,117
“nega” frequency rank
#8,507
“next” frequency rank
13624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nega next
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo negar próximo, seguinte:

Where the eye mixes nega and next

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nega (CVCV) and next (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
nega
4 ch
next

Visual trap between nega and next

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nega is /ˈnɛ.ɡɐ/ while next is /nɛkst/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13624, 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/. next is at rank #8,507, tagged as anadj, pronounced /nɛkst/.

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 13624, this pair ranks #58,666 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nega vs next

Shared letters: en. Private to "nega": ag. Private to "next": tx.

"nega" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "next" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nega ← enga · neag · negga · ngea · nnega
  • next ← enxt · netx · nextt · nexxt · nnext · nxet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nega" and "next" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nega" is a verb and "next" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nega" or "next" show up more?
"nega" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,117 in our Portuguese list, against #8,507 for "next". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "nega" and "next" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "next" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,666 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nega" and "next" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nena vs next". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #58,666 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list