Which to use
“só” is an adjective and “sono” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #50
- “só” frequency rank
- #2,910
- “sono” frequency rank
- 2960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | só | sono |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | solitário, sem companhia, sem círculo social | necessidade, vontade de dormir |
Where the eye mixes só and sono
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: só vs sono
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: só is /ˈsɔ/ while sono is /ˈso.nu/. 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 2960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
só is recorded at frequency rank #50, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɔ/. sono is at rank #2,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈso.nu/.
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 2960, this pair ranks #72,258 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of só vs sono
Shared letters: s. Private to "só": ó. Private to "sono": no.
"só" · 2 letters · shape CV · "sono" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sono ← osno · snoo · sonno · soon · ssono
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "só" for "sono" ever safe?
Which is more common, "só" or "sono"?
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 "só" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sono" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,258 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "só" and "sono" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sono vs sueño". 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 #72,258 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.