bolavsbolasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bola is a noun, bolas is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bola” is a noun and “bolas” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,235
“bola” frequency rank
#5,713
“bolas” frequency rank
6948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bola bolas
Definition sólido esférico qualquer (ver esfera) expressa frustração, irritação

Letter map: bola vs bolas

Shared letters muted; letters that set bola and bolas apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

4 ch
bola
5 ch
bolas

Role in the sentence - bola and bolas

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bola is anoun and bolasanintj. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “bola” sits inside “bolas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bola is recorded at frequency rank #1,235, classified as anoun. bolas is at rank #5,713, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈbɔ.lɐʃ/.

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 6948, this pair ranks #67,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bola vs bolas

Shared letters: ablo. Private to "bola": -. Private to "bolas": s.

"bola" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bolas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bolabbola · bloa · boal · bolla · obla
  • bolasbbolas · bloas · boals · bolass · bollas · oblas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bola" and "bolas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bola" is a noun and "bolas" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bola" or "bolas"?
"bola" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,235 in our Portuguese list, against #5,713 for "bolas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "bola" and "bolas".

  • Full dictionary entry for "bola" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bolas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,328 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bola" and "bolas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bolas vs bolor". 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 #67,328 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