Which to use
“balde” and “ballet” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,431
- “balde” frequency rank
- #13,226
- “ballet” frequency rank
- 21657
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | balde | ballet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vasilha de forma quase cilíndrica para o transporte de água e outros usos domésticos feita em madeira, metal ou plástico | balé |
Where the eye mixes balde and ballet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses balde with ballet
A purely visual mix-up. balde (/ˈbaɫ.dɨ/) and ballet (/balɛt/.) 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 21657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
balde is recorded at frequency rank #8,431, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɫ.dɨ/. ballet is at rank #13,226, tagged as anoun, pronounced /balɛt/..
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 21657, this pair ranks #48,542 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of balde vs ballet
Shared letters: abel. Private to "balde": d. Private to "ballet": t.
"balde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "ballet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "balde" and "ballet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "balde" or "ballet"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "balde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ballet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,542 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "balde" and "ballet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "balde vs bile". 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 #48,542 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.