bakesvsbodesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bakes is a verb, bodes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bakes” is a verb and “bodes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,135
“bakes” frequency rank
#48,094
“bodes” frequency rank
88229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bakes bodes
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of bake plural of bode

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
bakes
5 ch
bodes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bakes is /beɪks/ while bodes is /bəʊdz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bakes is recorded at frequency rank #40,135, classified as averb, pronounced /beɪks/. bodes is at rank #48,094, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bəʊdz/.

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 88229, this pair ranks #6,648 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bakes vs bodes

Shared letters: bes. Private to "bakes": ak. Private to "bodes": do.

"bakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bodes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bakesabkes · bakess · bakkes · bakse · bbakes · bkaes
  • bodesbbodes · bdoes · boddes · bodess · bodse · boeds · obdes

Frequency comparison

bakes#40,135
bodes#48,094

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bakes" and "bodes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bakes" is a verb and "bodes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bakes" or "bodes"?
"bakes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,135 in our English list, against #48,094 for "bodes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bakes vs bodes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “bakes”; for a noun, it's “bodes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bakes” 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