ki vs qui, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ki” is a noun and “qui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,029
“ki” frequency rank: #9,094
“qui” frequency rank: 19123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ki	qui
Definition	cão (mamífero domesticado - Canis lupus familiaris)	que relativo; o qual, a qual, os quais, as quais

Where the spellings diverge

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

2 ch

3 ch

qui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ki is /ˈkiː/ while qui is /Ki/. 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 (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ki is recorded at frequency rank #10,029, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkiː/. qui is at rank #9,094, tagged as apron, pronounced /Ki/.

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 19123, this pair ranks #51,700 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ki vs qui

Shared letters: i. Private to "ki": k. Private to "qui": qu.

"ki" · 2 letters · shape CV · "qui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

ki#10,029

qui#9,094

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ki" and "qui" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ki" is a noun and "qui" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ki" or "qui"?

"qui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,094 in our Portuguese list, against #10,029 for "ki". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ki vs qui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ki”; for a pronoun, it's “qui”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ki” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable