Which to use
“bas” and “busy” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,453
- “bas” frequency rank
- #48,290
- “busy” frequency rank
- 83743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bas | busy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | baixo: | ocupado |
Where the eye mixes bas and busy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bas with busy
A purely visual mix-up. bas (/bɑ/) and busy (/ˈbɪzi/) 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 83743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bas is recorded at frequency rank #35,453, classified as anadj, pronounced /bɑ/. busy is at rank #48,290, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈbɪzi/.
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 83743, this pair ranks #875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bas vs busy
Shared letters: bs. Private to "bas": a. Private to "busy": uy.
"bas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "busy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- busy ← bbusy · bsuy · bussy · busyy · buys · ubsy
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bas" for "busy" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bas" or "busy" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "busy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bas" and "busy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bué vs busy". 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 #875 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.