seção vs selar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,496
“seção” frequency rank: #26,893
“selar” frequency rank: 29389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	seção	selar
Definition	subdivisão de um capítulo, obra, tratado ou estudo	pôr sela (em cavalo, por exemplo)

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

seção

5 ch

selar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seção is anoun and selaraverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seção is recorded at frequency rank #2,496, classified as anoun. selar is at rank #26,893, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɨ.ˈlaɾ/.

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 29389, this pair ranks #39,263 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of seção vs selar

Shared letters: es. Private to "seção": oãç. Private to "selar": alr.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

selar ← eslar · sealr · selarr · sellar · selra · slear · sselar

Frequency comparison

seção#2,496

selar#26,893

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seção" and "selar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seção" is a noun and "selar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "seção" or "selar"?

"seção" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,496 in our Portuguese list, against #26,893 for "selar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering seção vs selar

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 “selar”.
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