Which to use
“balk” is a noun and “ban” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,576
- “balk” frequency rank
- #2,715
- “ban” frequency rank
- 43291
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | balk | ban |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing. | To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation. |
Where the eye mixes balk and ban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses balk with ban
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: balk is /bɔːk/ while ban is /ˈbæn/. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
balk is recorded at frequency rank #40,576, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɔːk/. ban is at rank #2,715, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈbæn/.
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 43291, this pair ranks #241,412 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of balk vs ban
Shared letters: ab. Private to "balk": kl. Private to "ban": n.
"balk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ban" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- balk ← ablk · bakl · balkk · ballk · bbalk · blak
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "balk" and "ban" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "balk" or "ban"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "balk" and "ban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "balk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #241,412 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "balk" and "ban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bails vs balk". 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 #241,412 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.