Which to use
“secar” and “sejam” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,684
- “secar” frequency rank
- #923
- “sejam” frequency rank
- 9607
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | secar | sejam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fazer evaporar a umidade de | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do subjuntivo do verbo ser. |
Where the eye mixes secar and sejam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between secar and sejam
A purely visual mix-up. secar (/sɨ.ˈkaɾ/) and sejam (/ˈse.ʒã/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
secar is recorded at frequency rank #8,684, classified as averb, pronounced /sɨ.ˈkaɾ/. 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 9607, this pair ranks #63,764 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of secar vs sejam
Shared letters: aes. Private to "secar": cr. Private to "sejam": jm.
"secar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "sejam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "secar" for "sejam" ever safe?
Which is more common, "secar" or "sejam"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "secar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sejam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,764 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "secar" and "sejam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sanar vs secar". 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 #63,764 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.