qu vs quem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#6,802
“qu” frequency rank: #68
“quem” frequency rank: 6870
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	qu	quem
Definition	cisne	pronome que se refere a uma ou mais pessoas

Where the spellings diverge

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

2 ch

4 ch

quem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: qu is [ɡu] while quem is /ˈkɐ̃j̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “qu” sits inside “quem”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

qu is recorded at frequency rank #6,802, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡu]. quem is at rank #68, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈkɐ̃j̃/.

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 6870, this pair ranks #67,444 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of qu vs quem

Shared letters: qu. Private to "qu": -. Private to "quem": em.

"qu" · 2 letters · shape CV · "quem" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

quem ← qeum · qquem · quemm · qume · uqem

Frequency comparison

qu#6,802

quem#68

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "qu" and "quem" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "qu" or "quem"?

"quem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #68 in our Portuguese list, against #6,802 for "qu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering qu vs quem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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