barravsbraTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,898
“barra” frequency rank
#30,360
“bra” frequency rank
34258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barra bra
Definition Pieza larga de metal u otra materia, por lo general de forma cilíndrica o prismática. Bruma.

Where the eye mixes barra and bra

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

5 ch
barra
3 ch
bra

Visual trap between barra and bra

A purely visual mix-up. barra ([ˈbara]) and bra (/bra/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barra is recorded at frequency rank #3,898, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbara]. bra is at rank #30,360, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bra/.

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 34258, this pair ranks #192,414 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of barra vs bra

Shared letters: abr. Private to "barra": -. Private to "bra": -.

"barra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bra" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barraabrra · barar · bbarra · brara · varra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "barra" for "bra" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbara] versus /bra/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "barra" or "bra" show up more?
"barra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,898 in our Spanish list, against #30,360 for "bra". 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 "barra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #192,414 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barra" and "bra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bra 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 #192,414 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