lemavslimeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lema is a noun, lime is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lema” is a noun and “lime” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,042
“lema” frequency rank
#40,652
“lime” frequency rank
47694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lema lime
Definition ideia expressa por uma frase que serve de guia ou de motivação para uma pessoa, grupo, seita, país ou nação verde-claro

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lema and lime apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lema
4 ch
lime

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lema is /ˈle.mɐ/ while lime is /laɪm/, ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lema is recorded at frequency rank #7,042, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈle.mɐ/. lime is at rank #40,652, tagged as anadj, pronounced /laɪm/, 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 47694, this pair ranks #17,538 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lema vs lime

Shared letters: elm. Private to "lema": a. Private to "lime": i.

"lema" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lime" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lemaelma · leam · lemma · llema · lmea
  • limeilme · liem · limme · llime · lmie

Frequency comparison

lema#7,042
lime#40,652

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lema" and "lime" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lema" is a noun and "lime" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lema" or "lime"?
"lema" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,042 in our Portuguese list, against #40,652 for "lime". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lema vs lime

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lema”; for an adjective, it's “lime”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lema” 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