bicavsbirdConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#28,476
“bica” frequency rank
#14,080
“bird” frequency rank
42556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bica bird
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo bicar pássaro, ave:

Where the eye mixes bica and bird

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bica
4 ch
bird

Visual trap between bica and bird

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bica is /ˈbi.kɐ/ while bird is /bɝd/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bica is recorded at frequency rank #28,476, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbi.kɐ/. bird is at rank #14,080, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɝd/.

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 42556, this pair ranks #23,205 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bica vs bird

Shared letters: bi. Private to "bica": ac. Private to "bird": dr.

"bica" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bird" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bicabbica · bcia · biac · bicca · ibca
  • birdbbird · bidr · birdd · birrd · brid · ibrd

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bica" for "bird" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bica" is a verb and "bird" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bica" or "bird" show up more?
"bird" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,080 in our Portuguese list, against #28,476 for "bica". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "bica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bird" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,205 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bica" and "bird" 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 #23,205 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