Which to use
“bale” and “bola” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,600
- “bale” frequency rank
- #1,235
- “bola” frequency rank
- 30835
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bale | bola |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fardo | sólido esférico qualquer (ver esfera) |
Letter map: bale vs bola
Shared letters muted; letters that set bale and bola apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & dictionary notes on bale vs bola
bale and bola 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 30835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bale is recorded at frequency rank #29,600, classified as anoun, pronounced /beɪ̯l/, [ˈbeɪ̯(ə)ɫ], [beə̯ɫ]. bola is at rank #1,235, 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 30835, this pair ranks #37,421 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bale vs bola
Shared letters: abl. Private to "bale": e. Private to "bola": o.
"bale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bola" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bale" and "bola" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bale" or "bola" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "bale" and "bola".
- Full dictionary entry for "bale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,421 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bale" and "bola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bale 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 #37,421 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.