bakvsbitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,589
“bak” frequency rank
#11,815
“bit” frequency rank
50404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bak bit
Definition retaguarda, parte traseira ver bite

Where the eye mixes bak and bit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
bak
3 ch
bit

Visual trap between bak and bit

A purely visual mix-up. bak (/ˈbaːk/) and bit (/bit/) 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 50404, 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/. bit is at rank #11,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bit/.

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 50404, this pair ranks #14,564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bak vs bit

Shared letters: b. Private to "bak": ak. Private to "bit": it.

"bak" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "bit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bak" for "bit" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbaːk/ versus /bit/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bak" or "bit"?
"bit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,815 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.

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 "bak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,564 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bak" and "bit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bak vs bué". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #14,564 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