badevsbakesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bade” and “bakes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,539
“bade” frequency rank
#40,135
“bakes” frequency rank
82674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bade bakes
Definition simple past of bid third-person singular simple present indicative of bake

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bade and bakes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
bade
5 ch
bakes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bade (/bæd/) and bakes (/beɪks/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bade is recorded at frequency rank #42,539, classified as averb, pronounced /bæd/. bakes is at rank #40,135, tagged as averb, pronounced /beɪks/.

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 82674, this pair ranks #15,283 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bade vs bakes

Shared letters: abe. Private to "bade": d. Private to "bakes": ks.

"bade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • badebadde · bbade · bdae
  • bakesabkes · bakess · bakkes · bakse · bbakes · bkaes

Frequency comparison

bade#42,539
bakes#40,135

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bade" and "bakes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bæd/ versus /beɪks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bade" or "bakes"?
"bakes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,135 in our English list, against #42,539 for "bade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bade vs bakes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bade” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list