Which to use
“sense” and “sensei” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,155
- “sense” frequency rank
- #19,843
- “sensei” frequency rank
- 41998
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sense | sensei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sentido | instrutor de arte marcial |
Where the eye mixes sense and sensei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sense runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against sensei's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sense and sensei
A purely visual mix-up. sense (/sɛns/) and sensei (/sẽ.ˈsej/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “sense” sits inside “sensei”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sense is recorded at frequency rank #22,155, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɛns/. sensei is at rank #19,843, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sẽ.ˈsej/.
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 41998, this pair ranks #23,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sense vs sensei
Shared letters: ens. Private to "sense": -. Private to "sensei": i.
"sense" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "sensei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sense" and "sensei" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sense" or "sensei" show up more?
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 "sense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sensei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sense" and "sensei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "senda vs sense". 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 #23,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.