nucavsnullWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: nuca is a noun, null is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nuca” is a noun and “null” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,197
“nuca” frequency rank
#42,573
“null” frequency rank
56770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nuca null
Definition parte posterior e superior do pescoço o número zero

Where the eye mixes nuca and null

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
nuca
4 ch
null

Visual trap between nuca and null

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nuca is /ˈnu.kɐ/ while null is /nʊl/ ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nuca is recorded at frequency rank #14,197, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈnu.kɐ/. null is at rank #42,573, tagged as anum, pronounced /nʊl/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 56770, this pair ranks #9,760 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nuca vs null

Shared letters: nu. Private to "nuca": ac. Private to "null": l.

"nuca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "null" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nucancua · nuac · nucca · unca
  • nullnlul · nnull · nul · unll

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nuca" and "null" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nuca" is a noun and "null" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nuca" or "null" show up more?
"nuca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,197 in our Portuguese list, against #42,573 for "null". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nuca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "null" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,760 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nuca" and "null" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "null vs nun". 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 #9,760 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