Which to use
“sea” is a noun and “sou” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,925
- “sea” frequency rank
- #106
- “sou” frequency rank
- 10031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sea | sou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mar. | primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ser |
Letter map: sea vs sou
Shared letters muted; letters that set sea and sou apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: sea vs sou
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sea is anoun and souaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sea is recorded at frequency rank #9,925, classified as anoun, pronounced ]. sou is at rank #106, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsow/, /ˈso/.
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 10031, this pair ranks #63,198 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sea vs sou
Shared letters: s. Private to "sea": ae. Private to "sou": ou.
"sea" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "sou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sea" and "sou" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sea" or "sou"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sea" and "sou".
- Full dictionary entry for "sea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,198 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sea" and "sou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sea vs soap". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #63,198 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.