Which to use
“só” is an adjective and “sons” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #50
- “só” frequency rank
- #4,957
- “sons” frequency rank
- 5007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | só | sons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | solitário, sem companhia, sem círculo social | forma plural de som: |
Where the eye mixes só and sons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: só vs sons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: só is /ˈsɔ/ while sons is /ˈsõs/. 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 5007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
só is recorded at frequency rank #50, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɔ/. sons is at rank #4,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsõs/.
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 5007, this pair ranks #69,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of só vs sons
Shared letters: s. Private to "só": ó. Private to "sons": no.
"só" · 2 letters · shape CV · "sons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sons ← osns · snos · sonns · sonss · sosn · ssons
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "só" for "sons" ever safe?
Frequency check: "só" vs "sons" - which ranks higher?
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 "sons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "só" and "sons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soap vs sons". 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 #69,720 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.