Which to use
“bafo” and “bak” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,283
- “bafo” frequency rank
- #38,589
- “bak” frequency rank
- 64872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bafo | bak |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ar exalado dos pulmões; hálito; sopro suave | retaguarda, parte traseira |
Where the eye mixes bafo and bak
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. bafo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against bak's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bafo with bak
A purely visual mix-up. bafo ([‘ba.fʊ]) and bak (/ˈbaːk/) 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 64872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bafo is recorded at frequency rank #26,283, classified as anoun, pronounced [‘ba.fʊ]. bak is at rank #38,589, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaːk/.
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 64872, this pair ranks #5,595 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bafo vs bak
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bafo": fo. Private to "bak": k.
"bafo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bak" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bafo ← abfo · baffo · baof · bbafo · bfao
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bafo" and "bak" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bafo" or "bak" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bafo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bak" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,595 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bafo" and "bak" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bak 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 #5,595 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.