Which to use
“bahía” and “bahías” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,973
- “bahía” frequency rank
- #43,413
- “bahías” frequency rank
- 48386
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bahía | bahías |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Penetración del mar en la costa, de extensión considerable y de entrada ancha, menor que el golfo y mayor que la ensenada, que sirve para fondear barcos. | Forma del plural de bahía. |
Where the eye mixes bahía and bahías
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bahía runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against bahías's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bahía with bahías
A purely visual mix-up. bahía ([baˈia]) and bahías ([baˈias]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “bahía” sits inside “bahías”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48386, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bahía is recorded at frequency rank #4,973, classified as anoun, pronounced [baˈia]. bahías is at rank #43,413, tagged as anoun, pronounced [baˈias].
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 48386, this pair ranks #114,778 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bahía vs bahías
Shared letters: abhí. Private to "bahía": -. Private to "bahías": s.
"bahía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "bahías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bahía" for "bahías" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bahía" vs "bahías" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bahía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bahías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,778 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bahía" and "bahías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bahías vs basas". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #114,778 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.