Which to use
“em” is a preposition and “eram” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7
- “em” frequency rank
- #425
- “eram” frequency rank
- 432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | em | eram |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | exprime a ideia de: | terceira pessoa do plural do pretérito imperfeito do indicativo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes em and eram
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between em and eram
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: em is /ɐj̃/ while eram is /ˈɛ.ɾã/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
em is recorded at frequency rank #7, classified as aprep, pronounced /ɐj̃/. eram is at rank #425, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɛ.ɾã/.
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 432, this pair ranks #75,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of em vs eram
Shared letters: em. Private to "em": -. Private to "eram": ar.
"em" · 2 letters · shape VC · "eram" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- eram ← earm · eramm · erma · erram · ream
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "em" for "eram" ever safe?
Which is more common, "em" or "eram"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "em" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eram" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "em" and "eram" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eram vs ermo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #75,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.