Which to use
“bain” and “ban” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,309
- “bain” frequency rank
- #6,466
- “ban” frequency rank
- 8775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bain | ban |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de baigner ou de se baigner. | Proclamation pour ordonner ou défendre quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes bain and ban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bain vs ban
A purely visual mix-up. bain (\bɛ̃\) and ban (\bɑ̃\) 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 8775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bain is recorded at frequency rank #2,309, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɛ̃\. ban is at rank #6,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɑ̃\.
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 8775, this pair ranks #418,882 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bain vs ban
Shared letters: abn. Private to "bain": i. Private to "ban": -.
"bain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ban" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bain ← abin · bainn · bani · bbain · bian
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bain" for "ban" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "bain" or "ban" 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 "bain" 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 #418,882 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bain" and "ban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ban vs ber". 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 #418,882 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.