Which to use
“B1” and “by” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,862
- “B1” frequency rank
- #2,462
- “by” frequency rank
- 24324
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | B1 | by |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Habilitation électrique qualifiant une personne autorisée à effectuer des travaux d’ordre électrique en basse tension selon la norme NF C 18-510. | Fossé qui traverse un étang, aboutissant à sa bonde. |
Where the eye mixes B1 and by
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses B1 with by
A purely visual mix-up. B1 (\be.œ̃\) and by (\bi\) 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 - 1 in “B1” becomes y in “by”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
B1 is recorded at frequency rank #21,862, classified as anoun, pronounced \be.œ̃\. by is at rank #2,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bi\.
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 24324, this pair ranks #347,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of B1 vs by
Shared letters: b. Private to "B1": -. Private to "by": y.
"B1" · 1 letters · shape C · "by" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "B1" for "by" ever safe?
Frequency check: "B1" vs "by" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "B1" and "by" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "B1" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "by" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #347,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "B1" and "by" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "B1 vs ber". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #347,248 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.