Which to use
“nei” is a verb and “nur” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,191
- “nei” frequency rank
- #35,702
- “nur” frequency rank
- 62893
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nei | nur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | negar | apenas, somente, meramente |
Where the eye mixes nei and nur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. nei (CVV) and nur (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: nei vs nur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nei is /ˈnɛ.i/. while nur is /nuːɐ̯/. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nei is recorded at frequency rank #27,191, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈnɛ.i/.. nur is at rank #35,702, tagged as anadv, pronounced /nuːɐ̯/.
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 62893, this pair ranks #6,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nei vs nur
Shared letters: n. Private to "nei": ei. Private to "nur": ru.
"nei" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "nur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nei" and "nur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "nei" or "nur"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "nei" and "nur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nei" and "nur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nauru vs nur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #6,454 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.