Which to use
“bans” and “bar” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,719
- “bans” frequency rank
- #1,901
- “bar” frequency rank
- 38620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bans | bar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ban. | Comptoir où se servent les boissons. |
Where the eye mixes bans and bar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bans vs bar
A purely visual mix-up. bans (\bɑ̃\) and bar (\baʁ\) 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 38620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bans is recorded at frequency rank #36,719, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɑ̃\. bar is at rank #1,901, tagged as anoun, pronounced \baʁ\.
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 38620, this pair ranks #254,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bans vs bar
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bans": ns. Private to "bar": r.
"bans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bar" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bans ← abns · banns · banss · basn · bbans · bnas
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bans" and "bar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bans" vs "bar" - 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 "bans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bans" and "bar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "banals vs bans". 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 #254,001 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.