ci vs cut, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ci” is a pronoun and “cut” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,655
“ci” frequency rank: #11,244
“cut” frequency rank: 30899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ci	cut
Definition	tu, pronome pessoal sujeito da segunda pessoa do singular:	cortado

Where the eye mixes ci and cut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

cut

Why the eye confuses ci with cut

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ci is /tsi/ while cut is /ˈkʌt/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30899, 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/. cut is at rank #11,244, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkʌt/.

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 30899, this pair ranks #37,340 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ci vs cut

Shared letters: c. Private to "ci": i. Private to "cut": tu.

"ci" · 2 letters · shape CV · "cut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ci" for "cut" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ci" is a pronoun and "cut" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ci" or "cut"?

"cut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,244 in our Portuguese list, against #19,655 for "ci". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #37,340 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ci" and "cut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ci vs ciao". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #37,340 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.