Which to use
“salão” and “salário” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,751
- “salão” frequency rank
- #2,396
- “salário” frequency rank
- 5147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | salão | salário |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sala grande | remuneração |
Where the eye mixes salão and salário
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. salão runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against salário's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between salão and salário
A purely visual mix-up. salão (/sɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/) and salário (/sɐ.ˈla.ɾju/) 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 5147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
salão is recorded at frequency rank #2,751, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɐ.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. salário is at rank #2,396, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɐ.ˈla.ɾju/.
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 5147, this pair ranks #69,544 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of salão vs salário
Shared letters: alos. Private to "salão": ã. Private to "salário": irá.
"salão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "salário" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "salão" for "salário" ever safe?
Which is more common, "salão" or "salário"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "salão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "salário" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,544 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "salão" and "salário" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "salão vs soldo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,544 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.