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 eye mixes são and sie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. são and sie follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: são vs sie
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "são" for "sie" ever safe?
Which is more common, "são" or "sie"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "são" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "são" and "sie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #25,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.