baixarvsbeijarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,663
“baixar” frequency rank
#5,602
“beijar” frequency rank
8265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baixar beijar
Definition pôr baixo oscular; dar beijo (ósculo)

Where the eye mixes baixar and beijar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. baixar and beijar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
baixar
6 ch
beijar

Visual trap between baixar and beijar

A purely visual mix-up. baixar (/baj.ˈʃaɾ/) 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 8265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baixar is recorded at frequency rank #2,663, classified as averb, pronounced /baj.ˈʃaɾ/. 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 8265, this pair ranks #65,574 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of baixar vs beijar

Shared letters: abir. Private to "baixar": x. Private to "beijar": ej.

"baixar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "beijar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baixar ← abixar · baiaxr · baixarr · baixra · baixxar · baxiar · bbaixar · biaxar
  • beijar ← bbeijar · beiajr · beijarr · beijjar · beijra · bejiar · biejar · ebijar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "baixar" for "beijar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/baj.ˈʃaɾ/ versus /bei̯.ˈʒaʁ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɾ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɹ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baixar" or "beijar"?
"baixar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,663 in our Portuguese list, against #5,602 for "beijar". 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 "baixar" 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 #65,574 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baixar" and "beijar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bailar vs beijar". 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 #65,574 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