sagevsseteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sage is a verb, sete is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sage” is a verb and “sete” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,548
“sage” frequency rank
#858
“sete” frequency rank
32406
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sage sete
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo sagen cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha sete elementos distintos; número equivalente a seis mais um, representado pelo símbolo 7 em algarismos arábicos ou VII/vii em algarismos romanos

Where the eye mixes sage and sete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sage
4 ch
sete

Look-alike desk: sage vs sete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sage is /ˈzaːɡə/ while sete is /ˈsɛ.tʃi/, /ˈsɛ.ti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32406, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sage is recorded at frequency rank #31,548, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈzaːɡə/. sete is at rank #858, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈsɛ.tʃi/, /ˈsɛ.ti/.

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 32406, this pair ranks #35,419 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sage vs sete

Shared letters: es. Private to "sage": ag. Private to "sete": t.

"sage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sete" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sageasge · saeg · sagge · sgae · ssage
  • seteseet · sette · ssete · stee

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sage" and "sete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sage" is a verb and "sete" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sage" or "sete"?
"sete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #858 in our Portuguese list, against #31,548 for "sage". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,419 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sage" and "sete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sage vs Sau". 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 #35,419 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list