nowvsnurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,122
“now” frequency rank
#35,702
“nur” frequency rank
40824
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature now nur
Definition agora apenas, somente, meramente

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
now
3 ch
nur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. now (/naʊ/) and nur (/nuːɐ̯/) 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 40824, 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/. nur is at rank #35,702, tagged as anadv, pronounced /nuːɐ̯/.

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 40824, this pair ranks #25,211 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of now vs nur

Shared letters: n. Private to "now": ow. Private to "nur": ru.

"now" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

now#5,122
nur#35,702

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "now" and "nur" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/naʊ/ versus /nuːɐ̯/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "now" or "nur"?
"now" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,122 in our Portuguese list, against #35,702 for "nur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering now vs nur

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