sobrevssóbrioConfusable pair

Quick tell: sobre is a adverb, sóbrio is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sobre” is an adverb and “sóbrio” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#53
“sobre” frequency rank
#19,003
“sóbrio” frequency rank
19056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobre sóbrio
Definition emprega-se para designar que o vento sopra por ante-avante do pano sério, discreto

Letter map: sobre vs sóbrio

Shared letters muted; letters that set sobre and sóbrio apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
sobre
6 ch
sóbrio

Grammar separator: sobre vs sóbrio

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sobre is anadverb and sóbrioanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sobre is recorded at frequency rank #53, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈso.bɾɨ/. sóbrio is at rank #19,003, 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 19056, this pair ranks #51,795 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sobre vs sóbrio

Shared letters: bors. Private to "sobre": e. Private to "sóbrio": .

"sobre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sóbrio" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobreosbre · sbore · sobbre · sober · sobrre · sorbe · ssobre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sobre" and "sóbrio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sobre" is an adverb and "sóbrio" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sobre" vs "sóbrio" - which ranks higher?
"sobre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #53 in our Portuguese list, against #19,003 for "sóbrio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sobre" and "sóbrio".

  • Full dictionary entry for "sobre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sóbrio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,795 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobre" and "sóbrio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soberbo vs sóbrio". 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 #51,795 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