sinvssmeTell them apart

Quick tell: sin is a pronoun, sme is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sin” is a pronoun and “sme” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,687
“sin” frequency rank
#40,334
“sme” frequency rank
49021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sin sme
Definition aquilo, aquele primeira pessoa do plural do futuro do indicativo do verbo byť

Letter map: sin vs sme

Shared letters muted; letters that set sin and sme apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
sin
3 ch
sme

Grammar separator: sin vs sme

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sin is apronoun and smeaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sin is recorded at frequency rank #8,687, classified as apron. 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 49021, this pair ranks #16,057 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sin vs sme

Shared letters: s. Private to "sin": in. Private to "sme": em.

"sin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "sme" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sin" and "sme" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sin" is a pronoun and "sme" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sin" vs "sme" - which ranks higher?
"sin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,687 in our Portuguese list, against #40,334 for "sme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sin" and "sme".

  • Full dictionary entry for "sin" 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 #16,057 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sin" and "sme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sme". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #16,057 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list