nem vs nu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#121
“nem” frequency rank: #5,663
“nu” frequency rank: 5784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nem	nu
Definition	não	despido, em pelo, sem roupas

Where the eye mixes nem and nu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

nem

2 ch

Visual trap between nem and nu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nem is /ˈnɐ̃j̃/ while nu is /ˈnu/. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nem is recorded at frequency rank #121, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈnɐ̃j̃/. nu is at rank #5,663, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈnu/.

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 5784, this pair ranks #68,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nem vs nu

Shared letters: n. Private to "nem": em. Private to "nu": u.

"nem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nu" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nem" or "nu" show up more?

"nem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #121 in our Portuguese list, against #5,663 for "nu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "nem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "nu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #68,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nem" and "nu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nu vs null". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #68,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.