abavsaiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aba is a noun, ai is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aba” is a noun and “ai” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,719
“aba” frequency rank
#1,090
“ai” frequency rank
16809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aba ai
Definition parte saliente da beira das vestimentas, ou outros materiais de pano, para uso das pessoas, tais como vestido, paletó, toldo etc expressa dor física ou sentimental

Where the eye mixes aba and ai

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
aba
2 ch
ai

Look-alike desk: aba vs ai

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aba is /ˈa.bɐ/ while ai is /aj/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aba is recorded at frequency rank #15,719, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈa.bɐ/. ai is at rank #1,090, tagged as anintj, pronounced /aj/.

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 16809, this pair ranks #54,630 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aba vs ai

Shared letters: a. Private to "aba": b. Private to "ai": i.

"aba" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ai" · 2 letters · shape VV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aba" for "ai" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aba" is a noun and "ai" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aba" or "ai"?
"ai" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,090 in our Portuguese list, against #15,719 for "aba". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "aba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,630 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aba" and "ai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aba vs acs". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #54,630 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