sacovssalaTell them apart

Which to use

“saco” and “sala” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,166
“saco” frequency rank
#636
“sala” frequency rank
2802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature saco sala
Definition espécie de bolsa de plástico, papel, couro ou pano compartimento principal de uma casa

Where the eye mixes saco and sala

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
saco
4 ch
sala

Why the eye confuses saco with sala

A purely visual mix-up. saco (/ˈsa.ku/) and sala (/"sa.l@/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saco is recorded at frequency rank #2,166, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsa.ku/. sala is at rank #636, tagged as anoun, pronounced /"sa.l@/.

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 2802, this pair ranks #72,464 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of saco vs sala

Shared letters: as. Private to "saco": co. Private to "sala": l.

"saco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sacosacco · saoc · scao · ssaco
  • salaasla · saal · salla · slaa · ssala

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "saco" and "sala" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsa.ku/ versus /"sa.l@/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "saco" vs "sala" - which ranks higher?
"sala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #636 in our Portuguese list, against #2,166 for "saco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "saco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sala" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,464 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "saco" and "sala" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saco vs Sau". 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 #72,464 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