nozvsnuTell them apart

Quick tell: noz is a noun, nu is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“noz” is a noun and “nu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,733
“noz” frequency rank
#5,663
“nu” frequency rank
28396
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature noz nu
Definition o fruto (drupa) da nogueira de miolo muito apreciado despido, em pelo, sem roupas

Where the eye mixes noz and nu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
noz
2 ch
nu

Look-alike desk: noz vs nu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: noz is /ˈnɔʃ/ while nu is /ˈnu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

noz is recorded at frequency rank #22,733, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈnɔʃ/. 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 28396, this pair ranks #40,420 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of noz vs nu

Shared letters: n. Private to "noz": oz. Private to "nu": u.

"noz" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nu" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "noz" and "nu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "noz" is a noun and "nu" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "noz" or "nu" show up more?
"nu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,663 in our Portuguese list, against #22,733 for "noz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "noz" 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 #40,420 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "noz" and "nu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noon vs noz". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #40,420 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list