seremvsseteConfusable pair

Quick tell: serem is a verb, sete is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“serem” is a verb and “sete” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#812
“serem” frequency rank
#858
“sete” frequency rank
1670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature serem sete
Definition terceira pessoa do plural do infinitivo pessoal do verbo ser: cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha sete elementos distintos; número equivalente a seis mais um, representado pelo símbolo 7 em algarismos arábicos ou VII/vii em algarismos romanos

Where the eye mixes serem and sete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
serem
4 ch
sete

Visual trap between serem and sete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serem is /ˈse.ɾẽ/ while sete is /ˈsɛ.tʃi/, /ˈsɛ.ti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

serem is recorded at frequency rank #812, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈse.ɾẽ/. sete is at rank #858, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈsɛ.tʃi/, /ˈsɛ.ti/.

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 1670, this pair ranks #73,851 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of serem vs sete

Shared letters: es. Private to "serem": mr. Private to "sete": t.

"serem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "sete" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seremesrem · seerm · seremm · serme · serrem · sreem · sserem
  • seteseet · sette · ssete · stee

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "serem" for "sete" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "serem" is a verb and "sete" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "serem" or "sete"?
"serem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #812 in our Portuguese list, against #858 for "sete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "serem" and "sete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "serem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,851 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "serem" and "sete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sete vs sire". 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 #73,851 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