Which to use
“são” is an adjective and “sie” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,080
- “são” frequency rank
- #18
- “sie” frequency rank
- 20098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | são | sie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | gesund | Personalpronomen 3. Person Femininum Singular, welches eine zuvor benutzte Nominalphrase im Femininum (Person, Tier, Sache oder Abstraktum) ersetzt oder bei fehlendem oder weit entferntem Bezugswort auf eine Person weiblichen natürlichen Geschlechts verweist |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set são and sie apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: são is [sɐ̃w] while sie is [ziː]. 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
são is recorded at frequency rank #20,080, classified as anadj, pronounced [sɐ̃w]. sie is at rank #18, tagged as apron, pronounced [ziː].
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 20098, this pair ranks #1,901,285 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of são vs sie
Shared letters: s. Private to "são": oã. Private to "sie": ei.
"são" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "sie" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "são" and "sie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "são" or "sie"?
Remembering são vs sie
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “são”; for a pronoun, it's “sie”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “são” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable