Which to use
“sage” and “says” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,548
- “sage” frequency rank
- #31,967
- “says” frequency rank
- 63515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sage | says |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo sagen | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo say: |
Where the eye mixes sage and says
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sage (CVCV) and says (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between sage and says
A purely visual mix-up. sage (/ˈzaːɡə/) and says (/ˈsɛz/) 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 63515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sage is recorded at frequency rank #31,548, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈzaːɡə/. says is at rank #31,967, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsɛz/.
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 63515, this pair ranks #6,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sage vs says
Shared letters: as. Private to "sage": eg. Private to "says": y.
"sage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sage" for "says" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sage" or "says" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "says" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sage" and "says" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs says". 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 #6,157 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.