Which to use
“sem” is a preposition and “sun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #69
- “sem” frequency rank
- #7,698
- “sun” frequency rank
- 7767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sem | sun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indicativa de carência ou ausência | Sol |
Where the eye mixes sem and sun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between sem and sun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sem is /sɐ̃j̃/ while sun is /sʌn/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sem is recorded at frequency rank #69, classified as aprep, pronounced /sɐ̃j̃/. sun is at rank #7,698, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sʌn/.
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 7767, this pair ranks #66,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sem vs sun
Shared letters: s. Private to "sem": em. Private to "sun": nu.
"sem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sem" for "sun" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sem" or "sun" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sem" and "sun" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sem" and "sun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sueño vs sun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #66,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.