nem vs num, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“nem” and “num” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#121
“nem” frequency rank: #234
“num” frequency rank: 355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	nem	num
Definition	não	o mesmo que não

Letter map: nem vs num

Shared letters muted; letters that set nem and num apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch

nem

3 ch

num

Pair insight - nem / num

nem and num are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - e in “nem” becomes u in “num”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nem is recorded at frequency rank #121, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈnɐ̃j̃/. num is at rank #234, tagged as anadv.

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 355, this pair ranks #75,278 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nem vs num

Shared letters: mn. Private to "nem": e. Private to "num": u.

"nem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "num" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nem" and "num" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They differ by a single letter - e in “nem” becomes u in “num”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Frequency check: "nem" vs "num" - which ranks higher?

"nem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #121 in our Portuguese list, against #234 for "num". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "nem" and "num". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "nem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "num" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #75,278 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"nem" and "num" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nami vs num". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #75,278 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.