sie vs suu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#40,788
“sie” frequency rank: #47,111
“suu” frequency rank: 87899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sie	suu
Definition	ela, pronome pessoal feminino do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do singular:	boca, cavidade oral

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sie and suu apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

sie

3 ch

suu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sie is /zi:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?) while suu is /ˈsuː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87899, 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 ?). suu is at rank #47,111, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsuː/.

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 87899, this pair ranks #447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sie vs suu

Shared letters: s. Private to "sie": ei. Private to "suu": u.

"sie" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "suu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

sie#40,788

suu#47,111

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sie" and "suu" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sie" is a pronoun and "suu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sie" or "suu"?

"sie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,788 in our Portuguese list, against #47,111 for "suu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sie vs suu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “sie”; for a noun, it's “suu”.
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