baravsbasaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,455
“bara” frequency rank
#3,757
“basa” frequency rank
38212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bara basa
Definition Pan. Asiento de la columna.

Where the eye mixes bara and basa

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

4 ch
bara
4 ch
basa

Why the eye confuses bara with basa

A purely visual mix-up. bara (/ˈbɑː.ra/) and basa ([ˈbasa]) 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 a single letter - r in “bara” becomes s in “basa”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bara is recorded at frequency rank #34,455, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɑː.ra/. basa is at rank #3,757, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbasa].

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 38212, this pair ranks #171,218 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bara vs basa

Shared letters: ab. Private to "bara": r. Private to "basa": s.

"bara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "basa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barabaar · bbara · braa
  • basaabsa · baas · bassa · bbasa · bsaa · vasa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bara" and "basa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbɑː.ra/ versus [ˈbasa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bara" vs "basa" - which ranks higher?
"basa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,757 in our Spanish list, against #34,455 for "bara". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "basa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,218 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bara" and "basa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bane vs bara". 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 #171,218 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