Which to use
“sejam” is a verb and “sem” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #923
- “sejam” frequency rank
- #69
- “sem” frequency rank
- 992
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sejam | sem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do subjuntivo do verbo ser. | indicativa de carência ou ausência |
Where the eye mixes sejam and sem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sejam vs sem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sejam is /ˈse.ʒã/ while sem is /sɐ̃j̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sejam is recorded at frequency rank #923, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈse.ʒã/. sem is at rank #69, tagged as aprep, pronounced /sɐ̃j̃/.
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 992, this pair ranks #74,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sejam vs sem
Shared letters: ems. Private to "sejam": aj. Private to "sem": -.
"sejam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "sem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sejam ← esjam · seajm · sejamm · sejjam · sejma · sjeam · ssejam
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sejam" and "sem" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sejam" or "sem" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sejam" and "sem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sejam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sejam" and "sem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sem". 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 #74,638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.