Which to use
“sem” is a preposition and “sua” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #69
- “sem” frequency rank
- #32
- “sua” frequency rank
- 101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sem | sua |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indicativa de carência ou ausência | que tem você como objeto |
Letter map: sem vs sua
Shared letters muted; letters that set sem and sua apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for sem / sua
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sem is apreposition and suaanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sem is recorded at frequency rank #69, classified as aprep, pronounced /sɐ̃j̃/. sua is at rank #32, tagged as anadj.
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 101, this pair ranks #75,555 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sem vs sua
Shared letters: s. Private to "sem": em. Private to "sua": au.
"sem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sua" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sem" and "sua" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sem" or "sua" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "sem" and "sua". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,555 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sem" and "sua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soap vs sua". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #75,555 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.