sódiovssósiaTell them apart

Which to use

“sódio” and “sósia” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,278
“sódio” frequency rank
#35,794
“sósia” frequency rank
46072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sódio sósia
Definition elemento químico de símbolo Na, possui o número atômico 11 e massa atômica relativa de 22.989; é um metal alcalino, sólido na temperatura ambiente, com coloração branco prateado; é encontrado em grande quantidade na forma de cloreto de sódio (sal) nas águas marinhas; é a principal matéria-prima para obtenção de outros sais pessoa que é muito parecida com outra

Where the eye mixes sódio and sósia

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sódio and sósia follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
sódio
5 ch
sósia

Why the eye confuses sódio with sósia

A purely visual mix-up. sódio (/ˈsɔdju/) and sósia (/ˈsɔ.zjɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sódio is recorded at frequency rank #10,278, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɔdju/. sósia is at rank #35,794, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɔ.zjɐ/.

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 46072, this pair ranks #19,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sódio vs sósia

Shared letters: isó. Private to "sódio": do. Private to "sósia": a.

"sódio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "sósia" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sódio" and "sósia" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɔdju/ versus /ˈsɔ.zjɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sódio" or "sósia" show up more?
"sódio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,278 in our Portuguese list, against #35,794 for "sósia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "sódio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sósia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #19,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sódio" and "sósia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soir vs sósia". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #19,285 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