siguevssineWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sigue is a verb, sine is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sigue” is a verb and “sine” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#346
“sigue” frequency rank
#39,994
“sine” frequency rank
40340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sigue sine
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de seguir. Sin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sigue and sine apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
sigue
4 ch
sine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sigue is [ˈsiɣ̞e] while sine is [ˈsɪ.nɛ]. 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 (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sigue is recorded at frequency rank #346, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsiɣ̞e]. sine is at rank #39,994, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ˈsɪ.nɛ].

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 40340, this pair ranks #159,632 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sigue vs sine

Shared letters: eis. Private to "sigue": gu. Private to "sine": n.

"sigue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "sine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • siguecigue · isgue · sgiue · sigeu · siggue · siuge · ssigue
  • sineisne · sinne · snie · ssine

Frequency comparison

sigue#346
sine#39,994

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sigue" and "sine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sigue" is a verb and "sine" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sigue" or "sine"?
"sigue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #346 in our Spanish list, against #39,994 for "sine". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering sigue vs sine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “sigue”; for a preposition, it's “sine”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sigue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list