são vs sie, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“são” is an adjective and “sie” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34
“são” frequency rank: #40,788
“sie” frequency rank: 40822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	são	sie
Definition	saudável	ela, pronome pessoal feminino do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do singular:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set são and sie apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

são

3 ch

sie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: são is /ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while sie is /zi:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

são is recorded at frequency rank #34, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɐ̃w̃/. sie is at rank #40,788, tagged as apron, pronounced /zi:/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 40822, this pair ranks #25,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of são vs sie

Shared letters: s. Private to "são": oã. Private to "sie": ei.

"são" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "sie" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

são#34

sie#40,788

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "são" and "sie" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "são" is an adjective and "sie" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "são" or "sie"?

"são" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34 in our Portuguese list, against #40,788 for "sie". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering são vs sie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “são”; for a pronoun, it's “sie”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “são” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable