bambinsvsbassinsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,658
“bambins” frequency rank
#10,276
“bassins” frequency rank
49934
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bambins bassins
Definition Pluriel de bambin. Pluriel de bassin.

Where the eye mixes bambins and bassins

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bambins and bassins follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
bambins
7 ch
bassins

Look-alike desk: bambins vs bassins

A purely visual mix-up. bambins (\bɑ̃.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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49934, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bambins is recorded at frequency rank #39,658, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɑ̃.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 49934, this pair ranks #166,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bambins vs bassins

Shared letters: abins. Private to "bambins": m. Private to "bassins": -.

"bambins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "bassins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bambins ← abmbins · babmins · bambbins · bambinns · bambinss · bambisn · bambnis · bamibns
  • bassins ← abssins · basins · basisns · bassinns · bassinss · bassisn · bassnis · bbassins

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bambins" for "bassins" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\bɑ̃.bɛ̃\ versus \ba.sɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bambins" or "bassins"?
"bassins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,276 in our French list, against #39,658 for "bambins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bambins" 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 #166,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bambins" and "bassins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bambin vs bambins". 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 #166,681 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