Which to use
“em” is a preposition and “es” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7
- “em” frequency rank
- #2,631
- “es” frequency rank
- 2638
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | em | es |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | exprime a ideia de: | ele, ela, aquilo, pronome da terceira pessoa do neutro singular do caso nominativo. |
Where the eye mixes em and es
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between em and es
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: em is /ɐj̃/ while es is /'ɛs/ ouvir ^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “em” becomes s in “es”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
em is recorded at frequency rank #7, classified as aprep, pronounced /ɐj̃/. es is at rank #2,631, tagged as apron, pronounced /'ɛs/ ouvir ^(fonte ?).
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 2638, this pair ranks #72,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of em vs es
Shared letters: e. Private to "em": m. Private to "es": s.
"em" · 2 letters · shape VC · "es" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "em" for "es" ever safe?
Which is more common, "em" or "es"?
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 "es" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "em" and "es" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "em vs ermo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #72,686 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.