Which to use
“bai” is a preposition and “bak” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,371
- “bai” frequency rank
- #38,589
- “bak” frequency rank
- 65960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bai | bak |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | de acordo com; conforme | retaguarda, parte traseira |
Where the eye mixes bai and bak
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. bai (CVV) and bak (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between bai and bak
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bai is /ba.ˈi/ while bak is /ˈbaːk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “bai” becomes k in “bak”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65960, 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/. 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 65960, this pair ranks #5,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bai vs bak
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bai": i. Private to "bak": k.
"bai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "bak" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bai" and "bak" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bai" or "bak" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "bai" and "bak" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bai" 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 #5,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bai" and "bak" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bak vs bué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #5,163 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.