Which to use
“sein” and “sois” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,647
- “sein” frequency rank
- #20,136
- “sois” frequency rank
- 63783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sein | sois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ser, estar. | segunda pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes sein and sois
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sein and sois follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses sein with sois
A purely visual mix-up. sein (/zaɪ̯n/) and sois (/ˈsojs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sein is recorded at frequency rank #43,647, classified as averb, pronounced /zaɪ̯n/. sois is at rank #20,136, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsojs/.
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 63783, this pair ranks #6,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sein vs sois
Shared letters: is. Private to "sein": en. Private to "sois": o.
"sein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sein" and "sois" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sein" or "sois"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sein" and "sois" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sein" and "sois" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sein vs slip". 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 #6,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.