boladavsbordaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#39,018
“bolada” frequency rank
#8,724
“borda” frequency rank
47742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bolada borda
Definition pancada com bola terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo bordar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bolada and borda apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
bolada
5 ch
borda

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bolada is /bu.ˈla.dɐ/ while borda is /ˈbɔɾ.dɐ/. 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 47742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bolada is recorded at frequency rank #39,018, classified as anoun, pronounced /bu.ˈla.dɐ/. borda is at rank #8,724, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈbɔɾ.dɐ/.

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 47742, this pair ranks #17,494 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bolada vs borda

Shared letters: abdo. Private to "bolada": l. Private to "borda": r.

"bolada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "borda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • boladabbolada · bloada · boalda · bolaad · boladda · boldaa · bollada · oblada
  • bordabborda · bodra · borad · bordda · borrda · broda · obrda

Frequency comparison

bolada#39,018
borda#8,724

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bolada" and "borda" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bolada" is a noun and "borda" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bolada" or "borda"?
"borda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,724 in our Portuguese list, against #39,018 for "bolada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bolada vs borda

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “bolada”; for a verb, it's “borda”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bolada” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list