seçãovssejamWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,496
“seção” frequency rank
#923
“sejam” frequency rank
3419
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seção sejam
Definition subdivisão de um capítulo, obra, tratado ou estudo terceira pessoa do plural do presente do subjuntivo do verbo ser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
seção
5 ch
sejam

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seção is anoun and sejamaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seção is recorded at frequency rank #2,496, classified as anoun. sejam is at rank #923, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈse.ʒã/.

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 3419, this pair ranks #71,738 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seção vs sejam

Shared letters: es. Private to "seção": oãç. Private to "sejam": ajm.

"seção" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "sejam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sejamesjam · seajm · sejamm · sejjam · sejma · sjeam · ssejam

Frequency comparison

seção#2,496
sejam#923

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seção" and "sejam" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seção" is a noun and "sejam" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "seção" or "sejam"?
"sejam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #923 in our Portuguese list, against #2,496 for "seção". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seção vs sejam

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “seção”; for a verb, it's “sejam”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seção” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list