bailavsbanhaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#35,025
“baila” frequency rank
#21,667
“banha” frequency rank
56692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baila banha
Definition baile gordura animal, especialmente a de porco

Where the eye mixes baila and banha

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

5 ch
baila
5 ch
banha

Why the eye confuses baila with banha

A purely visual mix-up. baila (/ˈbaj.lɐ/) and banha (/ˈbã.ɲa/) 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 56692, 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/. banha is at rank #21,667, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbã.ɲa/.

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 56692, this pair ranks #9,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baila vs banha

Shared letters: ab. Private to "baila": il. Private to "banha": hn.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bailaabila · baial · bailla · balia · bbaila · biala
  • banhaabnha · bahna · banah · banhha · bannha · bbanha · bnaha

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "baila" for "banha" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbaj.lɐ/ versus /ˈbã.ɲa/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "baila" vs "banha" - which ranks higher?
"banha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,667 in our Portuguese list, against #35,025 for "baila". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "baila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "banha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,811 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baila" and "banha" 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 #9,811 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