baiãovsbailarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: baião is a noun, bailar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“baião” is a noun and “bailar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,438
“baião” frequency rank
#49,314
“bailar” frequency rank
79752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baião bailar
Definition tabua-larga (Typha latifolia) executar dançando

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set baião and bailar apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
baião
6 ch
bailar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: baião is /baj.'oŋ/ while bailar is /baj.ˈlaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baião is recorded at frequency rank #30,438, classified as anoun, pronounced /baj.'oŋ/. bailar is at rank #49,314, tagged as averb, pronounced /baj.ˈlaɾ/.

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 79752, this pair ranks #1,447 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baião vs bailar

Shared letters: abi. Private to "baião": . Private to "bailar": lr.

"baião" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV  ·  "bailar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bailarabilar · baialr · bailarr · baillar · bailra · baliar · bbailar · bialar

Frequency comparison

baião#30,438
bailar#49,314

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baião" and "bailar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baião" is a noun and "bailar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "baião" or "bailar"?
"baião" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,438 in our Portuguese list, against #49,314 for "bailar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering baião vs bailar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “baião”; for a verb, it's “bailar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “baião” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list