Which to use
“bans” and “Base” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,719
- “bans” frequency rank
- #409
- “Base” frequency rank
- 37128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bans | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ban. | Cousine (fille d’un oncle ou d’une tante). |
Where the eye mixes bans and Base
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bans with Base
A purely visual mix-up. bans (\bɑ̃\) and Base (\ˈbaː.zə\) 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 37128, 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\. Base is at rank #409, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈbaː.zə\.
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 37128, this pair ranks #264,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bans vs Base
Shared letters: abs. Private to "bans": n. Private to "Base": e.
"bans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Base" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bans" and "Base" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "bans" or "Base" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "Base" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bans" and "Base" 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 #264,683 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.