bailanvsbasanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,163
“bailan” frequency rank
#9,767
“basan” frequency rank
27930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bailan basan
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 basar o de basarse.

Where the eye mixes bailan and basan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bailan
5 ch
basan

Look-alike desk: bailan vs basan

A purely visual mix-up. bailan ([ˈbajlãn]) and basan ([ˈbasãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27930, 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]. basan is at rank #9,767, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbasãn].

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 27930, this pair ranks #224,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bailan vs basan

Shared letters: abn. Private to "bailan": il. Private to "basan": s.

"bailan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "basan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bailanabilan · baialn · bailann · baillan · bailna · balian · bbailan · bialan
  • basanabsan · baasn · basann · basna · bassan · bbasan · bsaan · vasan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bailan" and "basan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbajlãn] versus [ˈbasãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bailan" or "basan"?
"basan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,767 in our Spanish list, against #18,163 for "bailan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bailan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "basan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #224,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bailan" and "basan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bailan 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 #224,476 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