ohvsosTell them apart

Quick tell: oh is a intj, os is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“oh” is an intj and “os” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,682
“oh” frequency rank
#19
“os” frequency rank
1701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oh os
Definition ach! usado para apontar um nome definido, único

Where the eye mixes oh and os

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
oh
2 ch
os

Visual trap between oh and os

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oh is /ˈɔ/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while os is /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “oh” becomes s in “os”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oh is recorded at frequency rank #1,682, classified as anintj, pronounced /ˈɔ/ ouvir^(fonte ?). os is at rank #19, tagged as anarticle, pronounced /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente).

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 1701, this pair ranks #73,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of oh vs os

Shared letters: o. Private to "oh": h. Private to "os": s.

"oh" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "os" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "oh" for "os" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oh" is an intj and "os" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "oh" or "os"?
"os" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19 in our Portuguese list, against #1,682 for "oh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "oh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "os" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "oh" and "os" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oh vs oni". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #73,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list