somos vs sordos, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“somos” is a verb and “sordos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#347
“somos” frequency rank: #15,492
“sordos” frequency rank: 15839
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	somos	sordos
Definition	Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de ser.	Forma del masculino plural de sordo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set somos and sordos apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

somos

6 ch

sordos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: somos is [ˈsomos] while sordos is [ˈsoɾð̞os]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

somos is recorded at frequency rank #347, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsomos]. sordos is at rank #15,492, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈsoɾð̞os].

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 15839, this pair ranks #278,566 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of somos vs sordos

Shared letters: os. Private to "somos": m. Private to "sordos": dr.

"somos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "sordos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

somos ← osmos · smoos · sommos · somoss · somso · sooms · ssomos
sordos ← osrdos · sodros · sorddos · sordoss · sordso · sorods · sorrdos · srodos

Frequency comparison

somos#347

sordos#15,492

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "somos" and "sordos" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "somos" is a verb and "sordos" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "somos" or "sordos"?

"somos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #347 in our Spanish list, against #15,492 for "sordos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering somos vs sordos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “somos”; for an adjective, it's “sordos”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “somos” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable