Which to use
“sermos” and “somos” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,579
- “sermos” frequency rank
- #448
- “somos” frequency rank
- 6027
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sermos | somos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | primeira pessoa do plural do infinitivo pessoal do verbo ser. | primeira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes sermos and somos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sermos with somos
A purely visual mix-up. sermos (/ˈseɾ.mus/) and somos (/ˈso.mos/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sermos is recorded at frequency rank #5,579, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈseɾ.mus/. somos is at rank #448, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈso.mos/.
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 6027, this pair ranks #68,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sermos vs somos
Shared letters: mos. Private to "sermos": er. Private to "somos": -.
"sermos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "somos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sermos" and "somos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sermos" or "somos" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sermos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "somos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sermos" and "somos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serias vs sermos". 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 #68,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.