Which to use
“sana” is an adjective and “semana” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,345
- “sana” frequency rank
- #230
- “semana” frequency rank
- 30575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sana | semana |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | feminino de sano | período de sete dias, com um dia de feriado de cunho religioso: sábado para os judeus, domingo para os cristãos e sexta-feira para os muçulmanos |
Where the eye mixes sana and semana
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sana runs 4 letters (CVCV) against semana's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between sana and semana
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sana is /ˈsã.nɐ/ while semana is /sɨ.ˈmɐ.nɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sana is recorded at frequency rank #30,345, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsã.nɐ/. semana is at rank #230, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɨ.ˈmɐ.nɐ/.
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 30575, this pair ranks #37,726 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sana vs semana
Shared letters: ans. Private to "sana": -. Private to "semana": em.
"sana" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "semana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sana" and "semana" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sana" or "semana" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sana" and "semana" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sana" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "semana" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,726 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sana" and "semana" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sana 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 #37,726 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.