APBvsAPIConfusable pair

Which to use

“APB” and “API” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,865
“APB” frequency rank
#18,115
“API” frequency rank
52980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature APB API
Definition Nom du logiciel utilisé de 2012 à 2017 pour enregistrer les souhaits des élèves concernant leur poursuite d'études après le baccalauréat. Décrié pour ses nombreux problèmes informatiques, il est remplacé pour 2018 par Parcoursup. Alphabet phonétique international.

Where the eye mixes APB and API

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
APB
3 ch
API

Why the eye confuses APB with API

A purely visual mix-up. APB (\a.pe.be\) and API (\a.pi\) 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 a single letter - b in “APB” becomes i in “API”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

APB is recorded at frequency rank #34,865, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.pe.be\. API is at rank #18,115, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.pi\.

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 52980, this pair ranks #143,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of APB vs API

Shared letters: ap. Private to "APB": b. Private to "API": i.

"APB" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "API" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "APB" and "API" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\a.pe.be\ versus \a.pi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "APB" vs "API" - which ranks higher?
"API" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,115 in our French list, against #34,865 for "APB". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "APB" and "API" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "APB" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "API" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #143,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "APB" and "API" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "APB vs aur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #143,944 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list