num vs nun, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#234
“num” frequency rank: #39,280
“nun” frequency rank: 39514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	num	nun
Definition	o mesmo que não	agora, neste momento:

Letter map: num vs nun

Shared letters muted; letters that set num and nun apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch

num

3 ch

nun

Pair insight - num / nun

num and nun are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - m in “num” becomes n in “nun”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

num is recorded at frequency rank #234, classified as anadv. 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 39514, this pair ranks #26,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of num vs nun

Shared letters: nu. Private to "num": m. Private to "nun": -.

"num" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "num" and "nun" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They differ by a single letter - m in “num” becomes n in “nun”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Frequency check: "num" vs "nun" - which ranks higher?

"num" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #234 in our Portuguese list, against #39,280 for "nun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pair "num" vs "nun" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "num" 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 #26,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"num" and "nun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noon vs nun". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #26,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.