esse

/ˈe.sɪ/

//ˈe.sɪ// pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“esse” sits in 15 confusable pairs (corpus #83) as a pronoun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#83
frequency rank, Portuguese
1,279
“E” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - pronome demonstrativo que designa indivíduo ou objeto afastado de quem fala e próxima da pessoa com quem se fala:

Corpus desk

Index PT-esse · esse · Portuguese

esse · rank #83 · 3 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #83
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,279
  • PHOTO-FINISH tempo

Nearest frequency peer: tempo (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Vizinhos de frequência do confusável “esse”

Pares de peso semelhante no corpus, aparte dos confusáveis abaixo

corpus weight

What this shows As barras situam “esse” face aos lemas portugueses mais próximos por rank, não um reprint da secretária de confusáveis.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

esse vs est
50% similar
esse vs Eve
25% similar
esse vs ets
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for esse
PropertyValue
Headwordesse
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechPronoun
IPA/ˈe.sɪ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#83
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rank de corpus junto a confusáveis de “esse”

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).essecai aqui:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Na mesma faixa de raridade aparecem “tempo” (#84), “mundo” (#81), “vida” (#85). Entre 1,279 lemas com “E”, “esse” fica em #83. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for esse is neighbouring look-alikes ("est", "Eve", …), not just typos; it is apronoun pronounced /ˈe.sɪ/. Frequency #83 among 1,279 “E” headwords. Gloss: "pronome demonstrativo que designa indivíduo ou objeto afastado de quem fala e próxima da pessoa com quem se fala:".

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for esse, with forms such as "ese", "eses", and "sese". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "est", "Eve", "ets", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Portuguese form is esse, spelled E-S-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    pronome demonstrativo que designa indivíduo ou objeto afastado de quem fala e próxima da pessoa com quem se fala:

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how esse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Esse filme eu já assisti.
  2. Os meus sapatos novos são esses que estão debaixo do sofá.

This word in other languages

that(English)ese(Español)ce(Français)der(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ese
  • eses
  • sese

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of esse - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ese1eses2sese2
Edit distance from "esse"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "esse"?
"esse" is spelled E-S-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈe.sɪ/.
What does "esse" mean?
As a pronoun, "esse" means: pronome demonstrativo que designa indivíduo ou objeto afastado de quem fala e próxima da pessoa com quem se fala:
What words are commonly confused with "esse"?
"esse" is commonly confused with "est", "Eve", "ets". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "esse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "esse" is /ˈe.sɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "esse" come from?
"esse" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "esse", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

vida#85essa#86onde#78este#77

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list