bailavsbandaTell them apart

Which to use

“baila” and “banda” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,025
“baila” frequency rank
#908
“banda” frequency rank
35933
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baila banda
Definition baile parte lateral de um objeto

Where the eye mixes baila and banda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. baila (CVVCV) and banda (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
baila
5 ch
banda

Look-alike desk: baila vs banda

A purely visual mix-up. baila (/ˈbaj.lɐ/) and banda (/ˈbɐ̃.dɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baila is recorded at frequency rank #35,025, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaj.lɐ/. banda is at rank #908, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɐ̃.dɐ/.

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 35933, this pair ranks #31,007 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of baila vs banda

Shared letters: ab. Private to "baila": il. Private to "banda": dn.

"baila" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "banda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baila ← abila · baial · bailla · balia · bbaila · biala
  • banda ← abnda · badna · banad · bandda · bannda · bbanda · bnada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baila" and "banda" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbaj.lɐ/ versus /ˈbɐ̃.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baila" or "banda"?
"banda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #908 in our Portuguese list, against #35,025 for "baila". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "baila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "banda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,007 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baila" and "banda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baila vs bile". 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 #31,007 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list