bailanvsbancanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bailan” and “bancan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,163
“bailan” frequency rank
#37,448
“bancan” frequency rank
55611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bailan bancan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de bailar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de bancar o de bancarse.

Where the eye mixes bailan and bancan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bailan (CVVCVC) and bancan (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
bailan
6 ch
bancan

Visual trap between bailan and bancan

A purely visual mix-up. bailan ([ˈbajlãn]) and bancan ([ˈbãŋkãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bailan is recorded at frequency rank #18,163, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbajlãn]. bancan is at rank #37,448, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbãŋkãn].

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 55611, this pair ranks #78,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bailan vs bancan

Shared letters: abn. Private to "bailan": il. Private to "bancan": c.

"bailan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "bancan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bailan ← abilan · baialn · bailann · baillan · bailna · balian · bbailan · bialan
  • bancan ← abncan · bacnan · banacn · bancann · banccan · bancna · banncan · bbancan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bailan" for "bancan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbajlãn] versus [ˈbãŋkãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bailan" vs "bancan" - which ranks higher?
"bailan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,163 in our Spanish list, against #37,448 for "bancan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "bailan" and "bancan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bailan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bancan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #78,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bailan" and "bancan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bacán vs bancan". 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 #78,122 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