balcónvsbancanWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,917
“balcón” frequency rank
#37,448
“bancan” frequency rank
46365
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature balcón bancan
Definition Hueco abierto en la pared de un edifico desde el suelo de la habitación, que se prolonga al exterior y está protegido con una barandilla, balaustrada, antepecho o muro bajo. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de bancar o de bancarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set balcón and bancan apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
balcón
6 ch
bancan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: balcón is [balˈkõn] while bancan is [ˈbãŋkãn]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

balcón is recorded at frequency rank #8,917, classified as anoun, pronounced [balˈkõn]. 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 46365, this pair ranks #126,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of balcón vs bancan

Shared letters: abcn. Private to "balcón": . Private to "bancan": -.

"balcón" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "bancan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bancanabncan · bacnan · banacn · bancann · banccan · bancna · banncan · bbancan

Frequency comparison

balcón#8,917
bancan#37,448

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "balcón" and "bancan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "balcón" is a noun and "bancan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "balcón" or "bancan"?
"balcón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,917 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.

Remembering balcón vs bancan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “balcón”; for a verb, it's “bancan”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “balcón” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list