nowvsnunWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,122
“now” frequency rank
#39,280
“nun” frequency rank
44402
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature now nun
Definition agora agora, neste momento:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set now and nun apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
now
3 ch
nun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. now (/naʊ/) and nun (/ˈnuːn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

now is recorded at frequency rank #5,122, classified as anadv, pronounced /naʊ/. nun is at rank #39,280, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈnuːn/.

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 44402, this pair ranks #21,093 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of now vs nun

Shared letters: n. Private to "now": ow. Private to "nun": u.

"now" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

now#5,122
nun#39,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "now" and "nun" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/naʊ/ versus /ˈnuːn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "now" or "nun"?
"now" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,122 in our Portuguese list, against #39,280 for "nun". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering now vs nun

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “now” 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