Which to use
“bailar” and “beijar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,314
- “bailar” frequency rank
- #5,602
- “beijar” frequency rank
- 54916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bailar | beijar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | executar dançando | oscular; dar beijo (ósculo) |
Where the eye mixes bailar and beijar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bailar and beijar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between bailar and beijar
A purely visual mix-up. bailar (/baj.ˈlaɾ/) and beijar (/bei̯.ˈʒaʁ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɾ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɹ/) 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 54916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bailar is recorded at frequency rank #49,314, classified as averb, pronounced /baj.ˈlaɾ/. beijar is at rank #5,602, tagged as averb, pronounced /bei̯.ˈʒaʁ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɾ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɹ/.
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 54916, this pair ranks #10,934 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bailar vs beijar
Shared letters: abir. Private to "bailar": l. Private to "beijar": ej.
"bailar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "beijar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bailar" for "beijar" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bailar" vs "beijar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bailar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beijar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #10,934 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bailar" and "beijar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bailar vs bandar". 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 #10,934 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.