seavsseinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sea is a noun, sein is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sea” is a noun and “sein” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,925
“sea” frequency rank
#43,647
“sein” frequency rank
53572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sea sein
Definition mar. ser, estar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
sea
4 ch
sein

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sea is anoun and seinaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sea is recorded at frequency rank #9,925, classified as anoun, pronounced ]. sein is at rank #43,647, tagged as averb, pronounced /zaɪ̯n/.

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 53572, this pair ranks #11,939 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sea vs sein

Shared letters: es. Private to "sea": a. Private to "sein": in.

"sea" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "sein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seinesin · seinn · seni · sien · ssein

Frequency comparison

sea#9,925
sein#43,647

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sea" and "sein" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sea" is a noun and "sein" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sea" or "sein"?
"sea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,925 in our Portuguese list, against #43,647 for "sein". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sea vs sein

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list