bala
[ˈbala]
The verdict
“bala” is a regularly-used Spanish word, ranked #5,799 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,799
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Proyectil sólido, normalmente de metal o piedra, usado como munición.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bala |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈbala] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #5,799 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bala” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for bala is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈbala]. Corpus data places it at rank #5,799 in overall Spanish word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bala, with forms such as "balla", "bbala", and "blaa". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bla", "bay", "ban", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is bala, spelled B-A-L-A.
Definition
- 1Proyectil sólido, normalmente de metal o piedra, usado como munición.
- 2Mercancía unida y compactada para facilitar su transporte.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: balla,bbala,blaa,vala
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bala - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “bala”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is B-A-L-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈbala] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bla” - see the side-by-side comparison. bala vs bla
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.