bak vs ban, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,589
“bak” frequency rank: #13,668
“ban” frequency rank: 52257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	bak	ban
Definition	retaguarda, parte traseira	proibição

Letter map: bak vs ban

Shared letters muted; letters that set bak and ban apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch

bak

3 ch

ban

Corpus notes: bak and ban

bak and ban are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - k in “bak” becomes n in “ban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bak is recorded at frequency rank #38,589, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaːk/. ban is at rank #13,668, tagged as anoun.

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 52257, this pair ranks #12,912 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bak vs ban

Shared letters: ab. Private to "bak": k. Private to "ban": n.

"bak" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ban" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bak" and "ban" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They differ by a single letter - k in “bak” becomes n in “ban”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bak" or "ban" show up more?

"ban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,668 in our Portuguese list, against #38,589 for "bak". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "bak" vs "ban" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "bak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #12,912 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"bak" and "ban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bak vs bué". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #12,912 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.