bansvsbrinsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,719
“bans” frequency rank
#28,863
“brins” frequency rank
65582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bans brins
Definition Pluriel de ban. Pluriel de brin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bans and brins apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
bans
5 ch
brins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bans (\bɑ̃\) and brins (\bʁɛ̃\) 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 65582, 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\. brins is at rank #28,863, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bʁɛ̃\.

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 65582, this pair ranks #71,686 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bans vs brins

Shared letters: bns. Private to "bans": a. Private to "brins": ir.

"bans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "brins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bansabns · banns · banss · basn · bbans · bnas
  • brinsbbrins · birns · brinns · brinss · brisn · brnis · brrins · rbins

Frequency comparison

bans#36,719
brins#28,863

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bans" and "brins" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bɑ̃\ versus \bʁɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bans" or "brins"?
"brins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,863 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.

Remembering bans vs brins

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bans” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list