Which to use
“quem” is a pronoun and “quer” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #68
- “quem” frequency rank
- #129
- “quer” frequency rank
- 197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quem | quer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pronome que se refere a uma ou mais pessoas | ou |
Letter map: quem vs quer
Shared letters muted; letters that set quem and quer apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: quem vs quer
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: quem is apronoun and queraconjunction. On the page they differ by a single letter - m in “quem” becomes r in “quer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 197, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quem is recorded at frequency rank #68, classified as apron, pronounced /ˈkɐ̃j̃/. quer is at rank #129, tagged as aconj.
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 197, this pair ranks #75,433 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of quem vs quer
Shared letters: equ. Private to "quem": m. Private to "quer": r.
"quem" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "quer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "quem" and "quer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "quem" vs "quer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "quem" vs "quer" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "quem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,433 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quem" and "quer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quer 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 #75,433 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.