Which to use
“sie” is a pronoun and “sme” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,788
- “sie” frequency rank
- #40,334
- “sme” frequency rank
- 81122
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sie | sme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ela, pronome pessoal feminino do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do singular: | primeira pessoa do plural do futuro do indicativo do verbo byť |
Letter map: sie vs sme
Shared letters muted; letters that set sie and sme apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - sie and sme
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sie is apronoun and smeaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - i in “sie” becomes m in “sme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81122, 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 ?). 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 81122, this pair ranks #1,211 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sie vs sme
Shared letters: es. Private to "sie": i. Private to "sme": m.
"sie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "sme" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sie" and "sme" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sie" or "sme" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sie" and "sme".
- Full dictionary entry for "sie" 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 #1,211 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sie" and "sme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,211 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.