evserWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: e is a conjunction, er is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“e” is a conjunction and “er” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5
“e” frequency rank
#11,866
“er” frequency rank
11871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature e er
Definition usado para unir orações ou termos de mesma natureza gramatical ele, aquele, aquilo, terceira pessoa do masculino singular do caso nominativo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set e and er apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

1 ch
e
2 ch
er

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

e and er form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “e” sits inside “er” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

e is recorded at frequency rank #5, classified as aconj, pronounced /i/. er is at rank #11,866, tagged as apron.

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 11871, this pair ranks #60,883 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

e#5
er#11,866

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "e" and "er" be used interchangeably?
No, "e" and "er" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering e vs er

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “e”; for a pronoun, it's “er”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “e” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list