base 3 is a positional numeral system with three as its base. It uses 3 different digits for representing numbers. The digits for base 3 could be 0, 1, and 2.

base 31 is a positional numeral system with thirty-one as its base. It uses 31 different digits for representing numbers. The digits for base 31 could be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, and u.