samavsseaConfusable pair

Quick tell: sama is a adjective, sea is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sama” is an adjective and “sea” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,004
“sama” frequency rank
#116
“sea” frequency rank
27120
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sama sea
Definition Igual Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de ser.

Where the eye mixes sama and sea

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

4 ch
sama
3 ch
sea

Why the eye confuses sama with sea

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sama is [ˈsa.ma] while sea is [ˈsea]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27120, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sama is recorded at frequency rank #27,004, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsa.ma]. sea is at rank #116, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsea].

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 27120, this pair ranks #228,363 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sama vs sea

Shared letters: as. Private to "sama": m. Private to "sea": e.

"sama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sea" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • samasaam · samma · smaa · ssama

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sama" and "sea" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sama" is an adjective and "sea" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sama" or "sea"?
"sea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #116 in our Spanish list, against #27,004 for "sama". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sea" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,363 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sama" and "sea" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sama vs sila". 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 #228,363 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list