Which to use
“lui” is a verb and “Luis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,790
- “lui” frequency rank
- #2,383
- “Luis” frequency rank
- 37173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lui | Luis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alugar (tomar de aluguel) | Luís |
Where the eye mixes lui and Luis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lui with Luis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lui is /ˈlu.i/. while Luis is /'lwjs/.. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “lui” sits inside “Luis”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lui is recorded at frequency rank #34,790, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlu.i/.. Luis is at rank #2,383, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'lwjs/..
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 37173, this pair ranks #29,502 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lui vs Luis
Shared letters: ilu. Private to "lui": -. Private to "Luis": s.
"lui" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "Luis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Luis ← lius · lluis · luiss · lusi · ulis
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lui" and "Luis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "lui" or "Luis" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lui" and "Luis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lui" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Luis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,502 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lui" and "Luis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ludo vs lui". 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 #29,502 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.