saiuvssiWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,035
“saiu” frequency rank
#482
“si” frequency rank
1517
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature saiu si
Definition Terceira pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo sair. refere-se à terceira pessoa, indica reflexividade e é usado após preposição (a, de, em, contra, sobre, por, etc., exceto com)

Letter map: saiu vs si

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

4 ch
saiu
2 ch
si

Grammar separator: saiu vs si

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: saiu is averb and siapronoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saiu is recorded at frequency rank #1,035, classified as averb. si is at rank #482, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈsi/.

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 1517, this pair ranks #74,037 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of saiu vs si

Shared letters: is. Private to "saiu": au. Private to "si": -.

"saiu" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "si" · 2 letters · shape CV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • saiu ← asiu · saui · siau · ssaiu

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "saiu" for "si" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "saiu" is a verb and "si" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "saiu" or "si"?
"si" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #482 in our Portuguese list, against #1,035 for "saiu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "saiu" and "si". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "saiu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "si" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,037 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "saiu" and "si" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saiu 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 #74,037 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