Which to use
“sim” is an adverb and “simão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #147
- “sim” frequency rank
- #11,739
- “simão” frequency rank
- 11886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sim | simão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | exprime afirmação, acordo, aprovação, permissão ou consentimento | o primeiro farelo que se obtém ao peneirar a farinha |
Where the eye mixes sim and simão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sim vs simão
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sim is /ˈsĩ/ while simão is /si.'moŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sim” sits inside “simão”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sim is recorded at frequency rank #147, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈsĩ/. simão is at rank #11,739, tagged as anoun, pronounced /si.'moŋ/.
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 11886, this pair ranks #60,860 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sim vs simão
Shared letters: ims. Private to "sim": -. Private to "simão": oã.
"sim" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "simão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sim" for "simão" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sim" or "simão" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sim" and "simão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "simão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,860 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sim" and "simão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs sim". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #60,860 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.