sementevssetentaTell them apart

Quick tell: semente is a noun, setenta is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“semente” is a noun and “setenta” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,763
“semente” frequency rank
#8,540
“setenta” frequency rank
18303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature semente setenta
Definition grão ou parte do fruto com o embrião em estado de vida latente número equivalente a sete dezenas; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha sete dezenas de elementos distintos; representado pelo símbolo 70 (algarismos arábicos) ou LXX (algarismos romanos)

Where the eye mixes semente and setenta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
semente
7 ch
setenta

Look-alike desk: semente vs setenta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: semente is /sɨ.ˈmẽ.tɨ/ while setenta is /sɨ.ˈtẽ.tɐ/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

semente is recorded at frequency rank #9,763, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɨ.ˈmẽ.tɨ/. setenta is at rank #8,540, tagged as anadj, pronounced /sɨ.ˈtẽ.tɐ/.

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 18303, this pair ranks #52,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of semente vs setenta

Shared letters: enst. Private to "semente": m. Private to "setenta": a.

"semente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "setenta" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sementeesmente · seemnte · semenet · semennte · sementte · semetne · semmente · semnete
  • setentaestenta · seetnta · setenat · setennta · setentta · setetna · setneta · settenta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "semente" for "setenta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "semente" is a noun and "setenta" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "semente" vs "setenta" - which ranks higher?
"setenta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,540 in our Portuguese list, against #9,763 for "semente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "semente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "setenta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "semente" and "setenta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "semente vs servente". 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 #52,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list