Which to use
“bad” and “bird” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,699
- “bad” frequency rank
- #14,080
- “bird” frequency rank
- 18779
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bad | bird |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | banho | pássaro, ave: |
Where the eye mixes bad and bird
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bad with bird
A purely visual mix-up. bad (/bɑt/) and bird (/bɝd/) 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 18779, 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/. bird is at rank #14,080, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɝd/.
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 18779, this pair ranks #52,126 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bad vs bird
Shared letters: bd. Private to "bad": a. Private to "bird": ir.
"bad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bird" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bird ← bbird · bidr · birdd · birrd · brid · ibrd
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bad" and "bird" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "bad" or "bird"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bad" and "bird" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bird" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,126 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bad" and "bird" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bile vs bird". 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 #52,126 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.