Which to use
“barba” is a noun and “basta” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,384
- “barba” frequency rank
- #1,234
- “basta” frequency rank
- 6618
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | barba | basta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pelos na parte inferior do rosto | não mais!; chega! |
Where the eye mixes barba and basta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between barba and basta
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: barba is /ˈbaɾ.bɐ/ while basta is /ˈbaʃ.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
barba is recorded at frequency rank #5,384, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɾ.bɐ/. basta is at rank #1,234, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈbaʃ.tɐ/.
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 6618, this pair ranks #67,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of barba vs basta
Shared letters: ab. Private to "barba": r. Private to "basta": st.
"barba" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "basta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "barba" for "basta" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "barba" or "basta" 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 "barba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "basta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "barba" and "basta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baga vs barba". 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 #67,783 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.