Which to use
“bala” and “baús” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,374
- “bala” frequency rank
- #47,199
- “baús” frequency rank
- 50573
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bala | baús |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | projétil com que se carregam armas de fogo | plural de baú |
Where the eye mixes bala and baús
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bala and baús
A purely visual mix-up. bala (/ˈba.lɐ/) and baús (/bɐ.ˈu/) 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 50573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bala is recorded at frequency rank #3,374, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈba.lɐ/. baús is at rank #47,199, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɐ.ˈu/.
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 50573, this pair ranks #14,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bala vs baús
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bala": l. Private to "baús": sú.
"bala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "baús" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bala ← abla · balla · bbala · blaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bala" and "baús" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bala" or "baús" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "baús" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bala" and "baús" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baús 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 #14,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.