Which to use
“só” is an adjective and “solo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #50
- “só” frequency rank
- #1,451
- “solo” frequency rank
- 1501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | só | solo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | solitário, sem companhia, sem círculo social | terra |
Where the eye mixes só and solo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses só with solo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: só is /ˈsɔ/ while solo is /ˈsɔ.lu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
só is recorded at frequency rank #50, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɔ/. solo is at rank #1,451, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɔ.lu/.
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 1501, this pair ranks #74,055 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of só vs solo
Shared letters: s. Private to "só": ó. Private to "solo": lo.
"só" · 2 letters · shape CV · "solo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- solo ← oslo · sloo · sollo · sool · ssolo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "só" and "solo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "só" or "solo" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "só" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "solo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,055 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "só" and "solo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soap vs solo". 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 #74,055 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.