Which to use
“nous” is a pronoun and “nu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,892
- “nous” frequency rank
- #5,663
- “nu” frequency rank
- 37555
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nous | nu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nós, nos, pronome pessoal da primeira pessoa do plural. | despido, em pelo, sem roupas |
Same sound, different letters: nous vs nu
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - nous and nu
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: nous and nu carry the same recorded pronunciation, /nu/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is apronoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nous is recorded at frequency rank #31,892, classified as apron, pronounced /nu/. 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 37555, this pair ranks #29,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nous vs nu
Shared letters: nu. Private to "nous": os. Private to "nu": -.
"nous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "nu" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- nous ← nnous · nosu · nouss · nuos · onus
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nous" and "nu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nous" or "nu" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "nous" 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 #29,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nous" and "nu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noon vs nous". 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 #29,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.