sumavssumoConfusable pair

Quick tell: suma is a noun, sumo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“suma” is a noun and “sumo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,978
“suma” frequency rank
#9,264
“sumo” frequency rank
17242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature suma sumo
Definition resumo supremo, máximo

Letter map: suma vs sumo

Shared letters muted; letters that set suma and sumo apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
suma
4 ch
sumo

Grammar separator: suma vs sumo

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: suma is anoun and sumoanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “suma” becomes o in “sumo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

suma is recorded at frequency rank #7,978, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsu.mɐ/. sumo is at rank #9,264, 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 17242, this pair ranks #54,057 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of suma vs sumo

Shared letters: msu. Private to "suma": a. Private to "sumo": o.

"suma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sumo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sumasmua · ssuma · suam · summa · usma
  • sumosmuo · ssumo · summo · suom · usmo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "suma" and "sumo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "suma" is a noun and "sumo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "suma" vs "sumo" - which ranks higher?
"suma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,978 in our Portuguese list, against #9,264 for "sumo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "suma" and "sumo".

  • Full dictionary entry for "suma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sumo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,057 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "suma" and "sumo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sueño vs sumo". 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 #54,057 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