Which to use
“son” and “sous” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40
- “son” frequency rank
- #48,705
- “sous” frequency rank
- 48745
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | son | sous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sonido rítmico. | Forma del plural de sou. |
Where the eye mixes son and sous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses son with sous
A purely visual mix-up. son ([ˈsõn]) and sous ([ˈsows]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
son is recorded at frequency rank #40, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsõn]. 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 48745, this pair ranks #112,784 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of son vs sous
Shared letters: os. Private to "son": n. Private to "sous": u.
"son" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sous ← osus · sosu · souss · ssous
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "son" and "sous" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "son" or "sous" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "son" 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 #112,784 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "son" 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 #112,784 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.