Which to use
“bees” and “bis” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,529
- “bees” frequency rank
- #18,497
- “bis” frequency rank
- 26026
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bees | bis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bee | plural of bi |
Where the eye mixes bees and bis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bees and bis
A purely visual mix-up. bees (/ˈbiːz/) and bis (/baɪz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bees is recorded at frequency rank #7,529, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbiːz/. bis is at rank #18,497, tagged as anoun, pronounced /baɪz/.
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 26026, this pair ranks #389,789 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bees vs bis
Shared letters: bs. Private to "bees": e. Private to "bis": i.
"bees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bees ← bbees · beess · bese · ebes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bees" and "bis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bees" vs "bis" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bees" and "bis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bees" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,789 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bees" and "bis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BFS vs bis". 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 #389,789 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.