baiãovsbalcãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“baião” and “balcão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,438
“baião” frequency rank
#11,011
“balcão” frequency rank
41449
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baião balcão
Definition tabua-larga (Typha latifolia) mostrador de estabelecimento comercial

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set baião and balcão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
baião
6 ch
balcão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. baião (/baj.'oŋ/) and balcão (/baɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/) 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 41449, 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/. balcão is at rank #11,011, tagged as anoun, pronounced /baɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/.

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 41449, this pair ranks #24,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of baião vs balcão

Shared letters: aboã. Private to "baião": i. Private to "balcão": cl.

"baião" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV  ·  "balcão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

baião#30,438
balcão#11,011

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baião" and "balcão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/baj.'oŋ/ versus /baɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baião" or "balcão"?
"balcão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,011 in our Portuguese list, against #30,438 for "baião". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering baião vs balcão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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