bicavsbisWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#28,476
“bica” frequency rank
#14,300
“bis” frequency rank
42776
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bica bis
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo bicar até

Letter map: bica vs bis

Shared letters muted; letters that set bica and bis apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
bica
3 ch
bis

Role in the sentence - bica and bis

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bica is averb and bisapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42776, 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/. bis is at rank #14,300, tagged as aprep.

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 42776, this pair ranks #22,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bica vs bis

Shared letters: bi. Private to "bica": ac. Private to "bis": s.

"bica" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bicabbica · bcia · biac · bicca · ibca

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bica" and "bis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bica" is a verb and "bis" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bica" or "bis"?
"bis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,300 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

Pair "bica" vs "bis" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,956 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bica" and "bis" 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 #22,956 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