seuvssousWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: seu is a adjective, sous is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“seu” is an adjective and “sous” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,751
“seu” frequency rank
#48,705
“sous” frequency rank
84456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seu sous
Definition Su. Forma del plural de sou.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
seu
4 ch
sous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: seu is [ˈsew] while sous is [ˈsows]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seu is recorded at frequency rank #35,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsew]. sous is at rank #48,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsows].

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 84456, this pair ranks #7,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of seu vs sous

Shared letters: su. Private to "seu": e. Private to "sous": o.

"seu" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sousosus · sosu · souss · ssous

Frequency comparison

seu#35,751
sous#48,705

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seu" and "sous" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "seu" is an adjective and "sous" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "seu" or "sous"?
"seu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,751 in our Spanish list, against #48,705 for "sous". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seu vs sous

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “seu”; for a noun, it's “sous”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seu” 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