Which to use
“erre” and “esse” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,985
- “erre” frequency rank
- #83
- “esse” frequency rank
- 42068
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erre | esse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nisto, nisso | pronome demonstrativo que designa indivíduo ou objeto afastado de quem fala e próxima da pessoa com quem se fala: |
Where the eye mixes erre and esse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between erre and esse
A purely visual mix-up. erre (/ˈɛrːɛ/) and esse (/ˈe.sɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erre is recorded at frequency rank #41,985, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈɛrːɛ/. esse is at rank #83, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈe.sɪ/.
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 42068, this pair ranks #23,758 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erre vs esse
Shared letters: e. Private to "erre": r. Private to "esse": s.
"erre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "esse" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erre" and "esse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "erre" vs "esse" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,758 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erre" and "esse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erre vs être". 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 #23,758 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.