skyvssósTell them apart

Quick tell: sky is a noun, sós is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sky” is a noun and “sós” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,084
“sky” frequency rank
#16,887
“sós” frequency rank
23971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sky sós
Definition céu plural de só

Letter map: sky vs sós

Shared letters muted; letters that set sky and sós apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
sky
3 ch
sós

Grammar separator: sky vs sós

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sky is anoun and sósanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sky is recorded at frequency rank #7,084, classified as anoun, pronounced /skaɪ/. sós is at rank #16,887, tagged as anadj.

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 23971, this pair ranks #45,750 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sky vs sós

Shared letters: s. Private to "sky": ky. Private to "sós": ó.

"sky" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "sós" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sky" for "sós" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sky" is a noun and "sós" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sky" or "sós"?
"sky" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,084 in our Portuguese list, against #16,887 for "sós". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sky" and "sós".

  • Full dictionary entry for "sky" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sós" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,750 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sky" and "sós" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soap vs sós". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #45,750 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list