baiãovsbanjoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#30,438
“baião” frequency rank
#34,156
“banjo” frequency rank
64594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baião banjo
Definition tabua-larga (Typha latifolia) espécie de instrumento de cordas da família do alaúde, de corpo redondo, com uma abertura circular na parte posterior, originário da África

Where the eye mixes baião and banjo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. baião (CVVVV) and banjo (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
baião
5 ch
banjo

Look-alike desk: baião vs banjo

A purely visual mix-up. baião (/baj.'oŋ/) and banjo ([ˈbɐ̃.ʒu], Plural: [ˈbɐ̃.ʒuʃ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64594, 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/. banjo is at rank #34,156, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɐ̃.ʒu], Plural: [ˈbɐ̃.ʒuʃ].

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 64594, this pair ranks #5,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baião vs banjo

Shared letters: abo. Private to "baião": iã. Private to "banjo": jn.

"baião" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV  ·  "banjo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • banjo ← abnjo · bajno · banjjo · bannjo · banoj · bbanjo · bnajo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baião" and "banjo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/baj.'oŋ/ versus [ˈbɐ̃.ʒu], Plural: [ˈbɐ̃.ʒuʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baião" or "banjo"?
"baião" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,438 in our Portuguese list, against #34,156 for "banjo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baião" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "banjo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baião" and "banjo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baião vs bailar". 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 #5,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list