Which to use
“baila” and “barca” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,025
- “baila” frequency rank
- #14,525
- “barca” frequency rank
- 49550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baila | barca |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | baile | embarcação larga e pouco funda |
Where the eye mixes baila and barca
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses baila with barca
A purely visual mix-up. baila (/ˈbaj.lɐ/) and barca (/ˈbaɾ.kɐ/) 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 49550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baila is recorded at frequency rank #35,025, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaj.lɐ/. barca is at rank #14,525, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɾ.kɐ/.
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 49550, this pair ranks #15,453 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of baila vs barca
Shared letters: ab. Private to "baila": il. Private to "barca": cr.
"baila" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "barca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "baila" for "barca" ever safe?
Frequency check: "baila" vs "barca" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "baila" and "barca" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "baila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,453 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baila" and "barca" 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 #15,453 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.