Which to use
“ci” is a pronoun and “cri” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,655
- “ci” frequency rank
- #28,523
- “cri” frequency rank
- 48178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ci | cri |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tu, pronome pessoal sujeito da segunda pessoa do singular: | povo indígena da América do Norte, que habitava desde as montanhas Rochosas até o oceano Atlântico, tanto nos Estados Unidos da América quanto no Canadá |
Where the eye mixes ci and cri
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ci and cri
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ci is /tsi/ while cri is /ˈkɾi/. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ci is recorded at frequency rank #19,655, classified as apron, pronounced /tsi/. cri is at rank #28,523, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɾi/.
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 48178, this pair ranks #17,015 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ci vs cri
Shared letters: ci. Private to "ci": -. Private to "cri": r.
"ci" · 2 letters · shape CV · "cri" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ci" and "cri" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ci" or "cri" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ci" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,015 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ci" and "cri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coin vs cri". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #17,015 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.