sementevssomenteWhat's the difference?

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

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

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

#9,763
“semente” frequency rank
#706
“somente” frequency rank
10469
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature semente somente
Definition grão ou parte do fruto com o embrião em estado de vida latente apenas, unicamente, exclusivamente:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set semente and somente apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
semente
7 ch
somente

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: semente is anoun and somenteanadverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “semente” becomes o in “somente”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10469, 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/. somente is at rank #706, tagged as anadv.

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 10469, this pair ranks #62,627 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of semente vs somente

Shared letters: emnst. Private to "semente": -. Private to "somente": o.

"semente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "somente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • semente ← esmente · seemnte · semenet · semennte · sementte · semetne · semmente · semnete
  • somente ← osmente · smoente · soemnte · somenet · somennte · somentte · sometne · sommente

Frequency comparison

semente#9,763
somente#706

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "semente" and "somente" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "semente" is a noun and "somente" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "semente" or "somente"?
"somente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #706 in our Portuguese list, against #9,763 for "semente". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering semente vs somente

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “semente”; for an adverb, it's “somente”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “semente” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list