sairvssubirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#290
“sair” frequency rank
#2,256
“subir” frequency rank
2546
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sair subir
Definition passar de dentro para fora; deixar trepar por; elevar

Where the eye mixes sair and subir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sair
5 ch
subir

Visual trap between sair and subir

A purely visual mix-up. sair (/sɐ.ˈiɾ/) and subir (/su.ˈbiɾ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sair is recorded at frequency rank #290, classified as averb, pronounced /sɐ.ˈiɾ/. subir is at rank #2,256, tagged as averb, pronounced /su.ˈbiɾ/.

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 2546, this pair ranks #72,809 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sair vs subir

Shared letters: irs. Private to "sair": a. Private to "subir": bu.

"sair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "subir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sairasir · sairr · sari · siar · ssair
  • subirsbuir · ssubir · subbir · subirr · subri · suibr · usbir

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sair" and "subir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/sɐ.ˈiɾ/ versus /su.ˈbiɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sair" or "subir"?
"sair" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #290 in our Portuguese list, against #2,256 for "subir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,809 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sair" and "subir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soir vs subir". 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 #72,809 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