Which to use
“que” is an adverb and “queen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4
- “que” frequency rank
- #7,567
- “queen” frequency rank
- 7571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | que | queen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quanto, quão grande, qual de | rainha |
Where the eye mixes que and queen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses que with queen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: que is /ˈkɨ/ while queen is /kwiːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “que” sits inside “queen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
que is recorded at frequency rank #4, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈkɨ/. queen is at rank #7,567, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kwiːn/ 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 7571, this pair ranks #66,544 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of que vs queen
Shared letters: equ. Private to "que": -. Private to "queen": n.
"que" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "queen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- queen ← qeuen · qqueen · queenn · quen · quene · uqeen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "que" for "queen" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "que" or "queen" 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 "que" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "queen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,544 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "que" and "queen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "que 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 #66,544 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.