seekvssueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: seek is a verb, sue is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“seek” is a verb and “sue” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,853
“seek” frequency rank
#16,624
“sue” frequency rank
56477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seek sue
Definition procurar forma sem gênero de seu ou sua

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
seek
3 ch
sue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seek is averb and sueapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seek is recorded at frequency rank #39,853, classified as averb, pronounced /siːk/, /sēk/. sue is at rank #16,624, tagged as apron.

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 56477, this pair ranks #9,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of seek vs sue

Shared letters: es. Private to "seek": k. Private to "sue": u.

"seek" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "sue" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seekesek · seekk · sek · seke · sseek

Frequency comparison

seek#39,853
sue#16,624

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seek" and "sue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seek" is a verb and "sue" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "seek" or "sue"?
"sue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,624 in our Portuguese list, against #39,853 for "seek". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seek vs sue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “seek”; for a pronoun, it's “sue”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seek” 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