bailevsbaneWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,644
“baile” frequency rank
#49,461
“bane” frequency rank
52105
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baile bane
Definition Acción o efecto de bailar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de banir.

Where the eye mixes baile and bane

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. baile runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against bane's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
baile
4 ch
bane

Why the eye confuses baile with bane

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: baile is [ˈbajle] while bane is [ˈbane]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baile is recorded at frequency rank #2,644, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbajle]. bane is at rank #49,461, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbane].

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 52105, this pair ranks #94,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of baile vs bane

Shared letters: abe. Private to "baile": il. Private to "bane": n.

"baile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "bane" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baile ← abile · baiel · baille · balie · bbaile · biale · vaile
  • bane ← abne · banne · bbane · bnae · vane

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baile" and "bane" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baile" is a noun and "bane" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "baile" vs "bane" - which ranks higher?
"baile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,644 in our Spanish list, against #49,461 for "bane". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "baile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bane" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #94,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baile" and "bane" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bane vs brie". 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 #94,358 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