Which to use
“shi” is an adverb and “sme” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,143
- “shi” frequency rank
- #40,334
- “sme” frequency rank
- 65477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shi | sme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | exatamente; precisamente | primeira pessoa do plural do futuro do indicativo do verbo byť |
Letter map: shi vs sme
Shared letters muted; letters that set shi and sme apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. shi and sme follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Role in the sentence - shi and sme
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shi is anadverb and smeaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shi is recorded at frequency rank #25,143, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈʃiː/. sme is at rank #40,334, tagged as averb.
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 65477, this pair ranks #5,360 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shi vs sme
Shared letters: s. Private to "shi": hi. Private to "sme": em.
"shi" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "sme" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shi" and "sme" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "shi" or "sme" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "shi" and "sme". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "shi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,360 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shi" and "sme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sme". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #5,360 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.