Which to use
“sem” is a preposition and “seu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #69
- “sem” frequency rank
- #31
- “seu” frequency rank
- 100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sem | seu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indicativa de carência ou ausência | senhor |
Letter map: sem vs seu
Shared letters muted; letters that set sem and seu apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - sem and seu
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sem is apreposition and seuanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - m in “sem” becomes u in “seu”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sem is recorded at frequency rank #69, classified as aprep, pronounced /sɐ̃j̃/. seu is at rank #31, tagged as anoun.
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 100, this pair ranks #75,557 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sem vs seu
Shared letters: es. Private to "sem": m. Private to "seu": u.
"sem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "seu" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sem" and "seu" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sem" or "seu" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sem" and "seu".
- Full dictionary entry for "sem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,557 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sem" and "seu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sem". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #75,557 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.