Which to use
“qual” and “qui” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #125
- “qual” frequency rank
- #9,094
- “qui” frequency rank
- 9219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | qual | qui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quem, que; o pronome qual enfatiza a eleição entre várias possibilidades | que relativo; o qual, a qual, os quais, as quais |
Where the eye mixes qual and qui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between qual and qui
A purely visual mix-up. qual (/ˈkwaɫ/) and qui (/Ki/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
qual is recorded at frequency rank #125, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈkwaɫ/. 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 9219, this pair ranks #64,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of qual vs qui
Shared letters: qu. Private to "qual": al. Private to "qui": i.
"qual" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "qui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- qual ← qaul · qqual · quall · qula · uqal
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "qual" and "qui" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "qual" or "qui"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "qual" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "qui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "qual" and "qui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "qui vs quit". 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 #64,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.