Which to use
“balão” and “bolso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,601
- “balão” frequency rank
- #3,667
- “bolso” frequency rank
- 11268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | balão | bolso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | recipiente de forma oval que, cheio de um fluido mais leve que o ar, flutua sem auxílio de um sistema de propulsão | algibeira |
Letter map: balão vs bolso
Shared letters muted; letters that set balão and bolso apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Corpus notes: balão and bolso
balão and bolso 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
balão is recorded at frequency rank #7,601, classified as anoun. bolso is at rank #3,667, 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 11268, this pair ranks #61,618 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of balão vs bolso
Shared letters: blo. Private to "balão": aã. Private to "bolso": s.
"balão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "bolso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bolso ← bbolso · bloso · bollso · bolos · bolsso · boslo · oblso
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "balão" for "bolso" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "balão" or "bolso" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pair "balão" vs "bolso" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "balão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bolso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,618 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "balão" and "bolso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bailar vs balão". 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 #61,618 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.