bailavsbandaTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#9,409
“baila” frequency rank
#885
“banda” frequency rank
10294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baila banda
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de bailar. Grupo de personas con identidad colectiva.

Where the eye mixes baila and banda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
baila
5 ch
banda

Look-alike desk: baila vs banda

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: baila is [ˈbajla] while banda is [ˈbãn̪d̪a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baila is recorded at frequency rank #9,409, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbajla]. banda is at rank #885, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbãn̪d̪a].

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 10294, this pair ranks #299,143 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of baila vs banda

Shared letters: ab. Private to "baila": il. Private to "banda": dn.

"baila" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "banda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bailaabila · baial · bailla · balia · bbaila · biala · vaila
  • bandaabnda · badna · banad · bandda · bannda · bbanda · bnada · vanda

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baila" and "banda" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baila" is a verb and "banda" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "baila" or "banda"?
"banda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #885 in our Spanish list, against #9,409 for "baila". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "banda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #299,143 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baila" and "banda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baila vs bain". 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 #299,143 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list