sievssimWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sie is a pronoun, sim is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sie” is a pronoun and “sim” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,788
“sie” frequency rank
#147
“sim” frequency rank
40935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sie sim
Definition ela, pronome pessoal feminino do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do singular: exprime afirmação, acordo, aprovação, permissão ou consentimento

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sie and sim apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
sie
3 ch
sim

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

sie and sim form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - e in “sie” becomes m in “sim” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sie is recorded at frequency rank #40,788, classified as apron, pronounced /zi:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?). sim is at rank #147, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈsĩ/.

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 40935, this pair ranks #25,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

sie#40,788
sim#147

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sie" and "sim" be used interchangeably?
No, "sie" and "sim" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering sie vs sim

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “sie”; for an adverb, it's “sim”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sie” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list