Which to use
“s” is a symbol and “são” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #511
- “s” frequency rank
- #34
- “são” frequency rank
- 545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | s | são |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | símbolo de segundo | saudável |
Letter map: s vs são
Shared letters muted; letters that set s and são apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for s / são
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: s is asymbol and sãoanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “s” sits inside “são”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
s is recorded at frequency rank #511, classified as asymbol. são is at rank #34, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 545, this pair ranks #75,129 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of s vs são
Shared letters: s. Private to "s": -. Private to "são": oã.
"s" · 1 letters · shape C · "são" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "s" for "são" ever safe?
Which is more common, "s" or "são"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "s" and "são". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "s" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "são" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,129 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "s" and "são" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "são vs soap". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #75,129 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.