Which to use
“bad” and “Baum” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,699
- “bad” frequency rank
- #37,202
- “Baum” frequency rank
- 41901
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bad | Baum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | banho | árvore |
Where the eye mixes bad and Baum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bad with Baum
A purely visual mix-up. bad (/bɑt/) and Baum (/ˈbaʊm/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?)) 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 41901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bad is recorded at frequency rank #4,699, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑt/. Baum is at rank #37,202, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaʊm/ ouvir^(fonte ?) ouvir^(fonte ?).
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 41901, this pair ranks #23,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bad vs Baum
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bad": d. Private to "Baum": mu.
"bad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Baum" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Baum ← abum · bamu · baumm · bbaum · buam
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bad" for "Baum" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bad" vs "Baum" - which ranks higher?
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 "bad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Baum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bad" and "Baum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Baum vs bué". 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 #23,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.