nonvsnoonWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: non is a adverb, noon is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“non” is an adverb and “noon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,793
“non” frequency rank
#49,607
“noon” frequency rank
56400
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature non noon
Definition não meio-dia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set non and noon apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
non
4 ch
noon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: non is anadverb and noonanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

non is recorded at frequency rank #6,793, classified as anadv. noon is at rank #49,607, tagged as anoun, pronounced /nuːn/.

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 56400, this pair ranks #10,001 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of non vs noon

Shared letters: no. Private to "non": -. Private to "noon": -.

"non" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "noon" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • noonnnoon · noonn · onon

Frequency comparison

non#6,793
noon#49,607

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "non" and "noon" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "non" is an adverb and "noon" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "non" or "noon"?
"non" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,793 in our Portuguese list, against #49,607 for "noon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering non vs noon

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “non”; for a noun, it's “noon”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “non” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list