Which to use
“sob” is a preposition and “sós” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #320
- “sob” frequency rank
- #16,887
- “sós” frequency rank
- 17207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sob | sós |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | abaixo, em baixo | plural de só |
Letter map: sob vs sós
Shared letters muted; letters that set sob and sós apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: sob vs sós
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sob is apreposition and sósanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sob is recorded at frequency rank #320, classified as aprep, pronounced /ˈsob/. 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 17207, this pair ranks #54,106 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sob vs sós
Shared letters: s. Private to "sob": bo. Private to "sós": ó.
"sob" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sós" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sob" for "sós" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sob" or "sós"?
What to do next
You've compared "sob" and "sós". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sob" 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 #54,106 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sob" and "sós" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soap vs sós". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #54,106 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.