Which to use
“bakes” is a verb and “basket” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,135
- “bakes” frequency rank
- #6,333
- “basket” frequency rank
- 46468
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bakes | basket |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of bake | A lightweight container, generally round, open at the top, and tapering toward the bottom. |
Where the eye mixes bakes and basket
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bakes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against basket's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bakes with basket
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bakes is /beɪks/ while basket is /ˈbɑːs.kɪt/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bakes is recorded at frequency rank #40,135, classified as averb, pronounced /beɪks/. basket is at rank #6,333, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɑːs.kɪt/.
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 46468, this pair ranks #211,460 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bakes vs basket
Shared letters: abeks. Private to "bakes": -. Private to "basket": t.
"bakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "basket" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bakes" for "basket" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "bakes" or "basket" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bakes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "basket" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #211,460 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bakes" and "basket" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bails vs bakes". 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 #211,460 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.