bansvsbilansWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,719
“bans” frequency rank
#18,663
“bilans” frequency rank
55382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bans bilans
Definition Pluriel de ban. Pluriel de bilan.

Where the eye mixes bans and bilans

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bans
6 ch
bilans

Visual trap between bans and bilans

A purely visual mix-up. bans (\bɑ̃\) and bilans (\bi.lɑ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55382, 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\. bilans is at rank #18,663, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bi.lɑ̃\.

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 55382, this pair ranks #127,806 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bans vs bilans

Shared letters: abns. Private to "bans": -. Private to "bilans": il.

"bans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "bilans" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bansabns · banns · banss · basn · bbans · bnas
  • bilansbbilans · bialns · bilanns · bilanss · bilasn · billans · bilnas · blians

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bans" and "bilans" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\bɑ̃\ versus \bi.lɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bans" vs "bilans" - which ranks higher?
"bilans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,663 in our French list, against #36,719 for "bans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "bans" and "bilans" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bilans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #127,806 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bans" and "bilans" 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 #127,806 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