os

/uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente)

//uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente)/ article

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“os” is in the everyday core of Portuguese, ranked #19 in Portuguese word frequency and used as an article.

#19
frequency rank, Portuguese
2
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - usado para apontar um nome definido, único

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

os vs ou
50% similar
os vs ovo
33% similar
os vs our
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for os
PropertyValue
Headwordos
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechArticle
IPA/uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente)
Letters2
Frequency rank#19
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “os” sits in Portuguese frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). os lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Portuguese entry for os is 2 letters long, classified as an article, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente). Corpus data places it at rank #19 in overall Portuguese word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "usado para apontar um nome definido, único".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for os, a sign its spelling follows regular Portuguese conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ou", "ovo", "our", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Portuguese form is os, spelled O-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    usado para apontar um nome definido, único

This word in other languages

the(English)los(Español)les(Français)die(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "os"?
"os" is spelled O-S. The IPA pronunciation is /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente).
What does "os" mean?
As an article, "os" means: usado para apontar um nome definido, único
What words are commonly confused with "os"?
"os" is commonly confused with "ou", "ovo", "our". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "os"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "os" is /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente). Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "os" come from?
"os" is a Portuguese word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “os”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Portuguese spelling is O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente) (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ou” - see the side-by-side comparison. os vs ou
  • Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list