shi vs su, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“shi” is an adverb and “su” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,143
“shi” frequency rank: #6,713
“su” frequency rank: 31856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	shi	su
Definition	exatamente; precisamente	dele

Letter map: shi vs su

Shared letters muted; letters that set shi and su apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

shi

2 ch

Grammar separator: shi vs su

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shi is anadverb and suanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31856, 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/. su is at rank #6,713, tagged as anadj.

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 31856, this pair ranks #36,115 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of shi vs su

Shared letters: s. Private to "shi": hi. Private to "su": u.

"shi" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "su" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "shi" and "su" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "shi" is an adverb and "su" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "shi" or "su"?

"su" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,713 in our Portuguese list, against #25,143 for "shi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "shi" and "su".

Full dictionary entry for "shi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "su" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #36,115 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"shi" and "su" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs shi". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #36,115 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.