Which to use
“balance” is a noun and “balayée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,183
- “balance” frequency rank
- #45,461
- “balayée” frequency rank
- 48644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | balance | balayée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument de mesure utilisé pour peser des éléments, pour déterminer leur masse. | Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe balayer. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set balance and balayée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: balance is \ba.lɑ̃s\ while balayée is \ba.lɛ.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
balance is recorded at frequency rank #3,183, classified as anoun, pronounced \ba.lɑ̃s\. balayée is at rank #45,461, tagged as averb, pronounced \ba.lɛ.je\.
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 48644, this pair ranks #177,191 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of balance vs balayée
Shared letters: abel. Private to "balance": cn. Private to "balayée": yé.
"balance" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "balayée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- balance ← ablance · baalnce · balacne · balancce · balanec · balannce · ballance · balnace
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "balance" and "balayée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "balance" or "balayée"?
Remembering balance vs balayée
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “balance”; for a verb, it's “balayée”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “balance” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable