Which to use
“baile” and “balde” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,664
- “baile” frequency rank
- #8,431
- “balde” frequency rank
- 12095
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baile | balde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | reunião de pessoas para dançar | vasilha de forma quase cilíndrica para o transporte de água e outros usos domésticos feita em madeira, metal ou plástico |
Where the eye mixes baile and balde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses baile with balde
A purely visual mix-up. baile (/ˈbaj.lɨ/) and balde (/ˈbaɫ.dɨ/) 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 12095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baile is recorded at frequency rank #3,664, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaj.lɨ/. balde is at rank #8,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɫ.dɨ/.
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 12095, this pair ranks #60,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of baile vs balde
Shared letters: abel. Private to "baile": i. Private to "balde": d.
"baile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "balde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "baile" for "balde" ever safe?
Frequency check: "baile" vs "balde" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "baile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "balde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baile" and "balde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "balde 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 #60,604 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.