Which to use
“sem” is a preposition and “sie” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #69
- “sem” frequency rank
- #40,788
- “sie” frequency rank
- 40857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sem | sie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indicativa de carência ou ausência | ela, pronome pessoal feminino do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do singular: |
Where the eye mixes sem and sie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sem vs sie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sem is /sɐ̃j̃/ while sie is /zi:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sem is recorded at frequency rank #69, classified as aprep, pronounced /sɐ̃j̃/. sie is at rank #40,788, tagged as apron, pronounced /zi:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?).
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 40857, this pair ranks #25,179 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sem vs sie
Shared letters: es. Private to "sem": m. Private to "sie": i.
"sem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sie" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sem" for "sie" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sem" or "sie" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,179 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sem" and "sie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #25,179 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.