Which to use
“bak” and “bank” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,589
- “bak” frequency rank
- #9,803
- “bank” frequency rank
- 48392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bak | bank |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | retaguarda, parte traseira | banco |
Where the eye mixes bak and bank
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bak runs 3 letters (CVC) against bank's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bak with bank
A purely visual mix-up. bak (/ˈbaːk/) and bank (/bɑŋk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48392, 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/. bank is at rank #9,803, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɑŋk/.
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 48392, this pair ranks #16,780 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bak vs bank
Shared letters: abk. Private to "bak": -. Private to "bank": n.
"bak" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bank ← abnk · bakn · bankk · bannk · bbank · bnak
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bak" and "bank" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bak" vs "bank" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bak" and "bank" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,780 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bak" and "bank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bak vs bué". 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 #16,780 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.