barrvsbasWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: barr is a noun, bas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“barr” is a noun and “bas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,242
“barr” frequency rank
#25,153
“bas” frequency rank
73395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barr bas
Definition Lo alto, cima, parte de arriba de algo. Bajo.

Where the eye mixes barr and bas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
barr
3 ch
bas

Visual trap between barr and bas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: barr is [bˠɑːɾˠ] while bas is /bɑ/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barr is recorded at frequency rank #48,242, classified as anoun, pronounced [bˠɑːɾˠ]. bas is at rank #25,153, tagged as anadj, pronounced /bɑ/.

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 73395, this pair ranks #23,378 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of barr vs bas

Shared letters: ab. Private to "barr": r. Private to "bas": s.

"barr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "bas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barrabrr · bar · bbarr · brar · varr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "barr" and "bas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "barr" is a noun and "bas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "barr" or "bas"?
"bas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,153 in our Spanish list, against #48,242 for "barr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "barr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,378 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barr" and "bas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bane vs barr". 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 #23,378 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