Which to use
“lie” is a noun and “lui” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,038
- “lie” frequency rank
- #34,790
- “lui” frequency rank
- 65828
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lie | lui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mentira | alugar (tomar de aluguel) |
Where the eye mixes lie and lui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lie and lui follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between lie and lui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lie is /ˈlaɪ/ while lui is /ˈlu.i/.. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lie is recorded at frequency rank #31,038, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaɪ/. lui is at rank #34,790, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlu.i/..
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 65828, this pair ranks #5,229 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lie vs lui
Shared letters: il. Private to "lie": e. Private to "lui": u.
"lie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lie" for "lui" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lie" or "lui" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,229 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lie" and "lui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ludo vs lui". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #5,229 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.