beiravsbicaTell them apart

Quick tell: beira is a noun, bica is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“beira” is a noun and “bica” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,708
“beira” frequency rank
#28,476
“bica” frequency rank
31184
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beira bica
Definition margem terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo bicar

Where the eye mixes beira and bica

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. beira runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against bica's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
beira
4 ch
bica

Why the eye confuses beira with bica

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beira is /ˈbɐj.ɾɐ/ while bica is /ˈbi.kɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beira is recorded at frequency rank #2,708, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɐj.ɾɐ/. bica is at rank #28,476, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈbi.kɐ/.

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 31184, this pair ranks #36,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beira vs bica

Shared letters: abi. Private to "beira": er. Private to "bica": c.

"beira" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "bica" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beira ← bbeira · beiar · beirra · beria · biera · ebira
  • bica ← bbica · bcia · biac · bicca · ibca

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beira" for "bica" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beira" is a noun and "bica" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beira" or "bica"?
"beira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,708 in our Portuguese list, against #28,476 for "bica". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bica" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beira" and "bica" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bica 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 #36,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list