Which to use
“salvo” and “são” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,020
- “salvo” frequency rank
- #34
- “são” frequency rank
- 4054
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | salvo | são |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | livre de perigo, seguro | saudável |
Where the eye mixes salvo and são
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses salvo with são
A purely visual mix-up. salvo (/ˈsaɫ.vu/) and são (/ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 4054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
salvo is recorded at frequency rank #4,020, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsaɫ.vu/. 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 4054, this pair ranks #70,968 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of salvo vs são
Shared letters: os. Private to "salvo": alv. Private to "são": ã.
"salvo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "são" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- salvo ← aslvo · sallvo · salov · salvvo · savlo · slavo · ssalvo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "salvo" for "são" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "salvo" or "são" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "salvo" and "são" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "salvo" 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 #70,968 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "salvo" and "são" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "salvo vs soldo". 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 #70,968 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.