saiuvssciWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: saiu is a verb, sci is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“saiu” is a verb and “sci” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,035
“saiu” frequency rank
#29,904
“sci” frequency rank
30939
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature saiu sci
Definition Terceira pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo sair. esqui, placa geralmente de madeira para deslizar na água ou na neve

Letter map: saiu vs sci

Shared letters muted; letters that set saiu and sci apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. saiu runs 4 letters (CVVV) against sci's 3 (CCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
saiu
3 ch
sci

Part-of-speech tell for saiu / sci

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: saiu is averb and scianoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saiu is recorded at frequency rank #1,035, classified as averb. sci is at rank #29,904, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃi/.

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 30939, this pair ranks #37,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of saiu vs sci

Shared letters: is. Private to "saiu": au. Private to "sci": c.

"saiu" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "sci" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • saiu ← asiu · saui · siau · ssaiu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "saiu" and "sci" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "saiu" is a verb and "sci" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "saiu" or "sci"?
"saiu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,035 in our Portuguese list, against #29,904 for "sci". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "saiu" and "sci".

  • Full dictionary entry for "saiu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sci" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,293 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "saiu" and "sci" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sci". 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 #37,293 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