Which to use
“nula” is an adjective and “nun” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,530
- “nula” frequency rank
- #39,280
- “nun” frequency rank
- 60810
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nula | nun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | feminino de nulo | agora, neste momento: |
Where the eye mixes nula and nun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nula runs 4 letters (CVCV) against nun's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between nula and nun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nula is /ˈnu.lɐ/ while nun is /ˈnuːn/. 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 (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nula is recorded at frequency rank #21,530, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈnu.lɐ/. 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 60810, this pair ranks #7,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nula vs nun
Shared letters: nu. Private to "nula": al. Private to "nun": -.
"nula" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "nun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nula ← nlua · nnula · nual · nulla · unla
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nula" and "nun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "nula" or "nun" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "nula" and "nun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "nula" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nula" and "nun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noon 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 #7,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.