negarvsnetaConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#4,257
“negar” frequency rank
#10,220
“neta” frequency rank
14477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature negar neta
Definition afirmar que algo não é verdadeiro ou que não existe filha do filho ou da filha

Where the eye mixes negar and neta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
negar
4 ch
neta

Visual trap between negar and neta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: negar is /nɨ.ˈɡaɾ/ while neta is /ˈnɛ.tɐ/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

negar is recorded at frequency rank #4,257, classified as averb, pronounced /nɨ.ˈɡaɾ/. neta is at rank #10,220, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈnɛ.tɐ/.

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 14477, this pair ranks #57,587 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of negar vs neta

Shared letters: aen. Private to "negar": gr. Private to "neta": t.

"negar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "neta" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • negarengar · neagr · negarr · neggar · ngear · nnegar
  • netaenta · neat · netta · nneta · ntea

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "negar" and "neta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "negar" is a verb and "neta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "negar" vs "neta" - which ranks higher?
"negar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,257 in our Portuguese list, against #10,220 for "neta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "negar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "neta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,587 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "negar" and "neta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nena vs neta". 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 #57,587 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