Which to use
“bai” is a preposition and “baila” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,371
- “bai” frequency rank
- #35,025
- “baila” frequency rank
- 62396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bai | baila |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | de acordo com; conforme | baile |
Where the eye mixes bai and baila
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bai runs 3 letters (CVV) against baila's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bai vs baila
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bai is /ba.ˈi/ while baila is /ˈbaj.lɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bai” sits inside “baila”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bai is recorded at frequency rank #27,371, classified as aprep, pronounced /ba.ˈi/. baila is at rank #35,025, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaj.lɐ/.
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 62396, this pair ranks #6,692 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bai vs baila
Shared letters: abi. Private to "bai": -. Private to "baila": l.
"bai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "baila" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- baila ← abila · baial · bailla · balia · bbaila · biala
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bai" for "baila" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bai" vs "baila" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "baila" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,692 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bai" and "baila" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baila vs bile". 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 #6,692 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.