Which to use
“sala” is a noun and “são” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #636
- “sala” frequency rank
- #34
- “são” frequency rank
- 670
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sala | são |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | compartimento principal de uma casa | saudável |
Where the eye mixes sala and são
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between sala and são
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sala is /"sa.l@/ while são is /ˈsɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sala is recorded at frequency rank #636, classified as anoun, pronounced /"sa.l@/. 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 670, this pair ranks #74,993 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sala vs são
Shared letters: s. Private to "sala": al. Private to "são": oã.
"sala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "são" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sala ← asla · saal · salla · slaa · ssala
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sala" and "são" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sala" or "são" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sala" and "são" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "são" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,993 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sala" and "são" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sala 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 #74,993 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.