saídovssãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,237
“saído” frequency rank
#34
“são” frequency rank
6271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature saído são
Definition que se comporta desinibidamente e/ou atrevidamente saudável

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set saído and são apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
saído
3 ch
são

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. saído (/sɐ.ˈi.du/) and são (/ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saído is recorded at frequency rank #6,237, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɐ.ˈi.du/. 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 6271, this pair ranks #68,186 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of saído vs são

Shared letters: os. Private to "saído": adí. Private to "são": ã.

"saído" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "são" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

saído#6,237
são#34

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "saído" and "são" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/sɐ.ˈi.du/ versus /ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "saído" or "são"?
"são" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34 in our Portuguese list, against #6,237 for "saído". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering saído vs são

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “saído” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list