Which to use
“ban” and “bane” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,466
- “ban” frequency rank
- #47,740
- “bane” frequency rank
- 54206
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ban | bane |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Proclamation pour ordonner ou défendre quelque chose. | Hotte pour les vendanges. |
Where the eye mixes ban and bane
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ban and bane
A purely visual mix-up. ban (\bɑ̃\) and bane (\ban\) 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 extra letter(s) - “ban” sits inside “bane”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54206, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ban is recorded at frequency rank #6,466, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɑ̃\. bane is at rank #47,740, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ban\.
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 54206, this pair ranks #135,525 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ban vs bane
Shared letters: abn. Private to "ban": -. Private to "bane": e.
"ban" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bane" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bane ← abne · banne · bbane · bnae
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ban" and "bane" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ban" vs "bane" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bane" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,525 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ban" and "bane" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bafa vs bane". 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 #135,525 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.