Which to use
“sólo” is an adverb and “sous” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #127
- “sólo” frequency rank
- #48,705
- “sous” frequency rank
- 48832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sólo | sous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grafía alternativa de solo (adverbio). Cada vez que deba entenderse como equivalente de solamente y sea posible la confusión con el adjetivo homónimo, es optativo tildar la palabra para desambiguar. | Forma del plural de sou. |
Where the eye mixes sólo and sous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sólo (CVCV) and sous (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses sólo with sous
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sólo is [ˈsolo] while sous is [ˈsows]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sólo is recorded at frequency rank #127, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈsolo]. 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 48832, this pair ranks #112,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sólo vs sous
Shared letters: os. Private to "sólo": ló. Private to "sous": u.
"sólo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sous ← osus · sosu · souss · ssous
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sólo" and "sous" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sólo" vs "sous" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sólo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sólo" and "sous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs Susa". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #112,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.