Which to use
“bains” and “bassins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,210
- “bains” frequency rank
- #10,276
- “bassins” frequency rank
- 14486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bains | bassins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Appartements destinés aux bains. | Pluriel de bassin. |
Where the eye mixes bains and bassins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bains runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against bassins's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bains and bassins
A purely visual mix-up. bains (\bɛ̃\) and bassins (\ba.sɛ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bains is recorded at frequency rank #4,210, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɛ̃\. bassins is at rank #10,276, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ba.sɛ̃\.
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 14486, this pair ranks #396,428 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bains vs bassins
Shared letters: abins. Private to "bains": -. Private to "bassins": -.
"bains" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "bassins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bains" for "bassins" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bains" vs "bassins" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bassins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,428 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bains" and "bassins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bains vs baissa". 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 #396,428 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.