baisesvsbraisesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,484
“baises” frequency rank
#34,442
“braises” frequency rank
64926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baises braises
Definition Pluriel de baise. (Dans certaines expressions) Cause ou source de contentieux ou de discorde.

Where the eye mixes baises and braises

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. baises runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against braises's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
baises
7 ch
braises

Visual trap between baises and braises

A purely visual mix-up. baises (\bɛz\) and braises (\bʁɛz\) 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 64926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baises is recorded at frequency rank #30,484, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɛz\. braises is at rank #34,442, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bʁɛz\.

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 64926, this pair ranks #74,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baises vs braises

Shared letters: abeis. Private to "baises": -. Private to "braises": r.

"baises" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "braises" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baises ← abises · basies · bbaises · biases
  • braises ← barises · bbraises · braiess · braisess · braisses · brasies · briases · brraises

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baises" and "braises" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bɛz\ versus \bʁɛz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baises" or "braises"?
"baises" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,484 in our French list, against #34,442 for "braises". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baises" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "braises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baises" and "braises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "braises vs branles". 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 #74,689 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