baséevsbasseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: basée is a adjective, basse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“basée” is an adjective and “basse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,126
“basée” frequency rank
#2,162
“basse” frequency rank
6288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature basée basse
Definition Féminin singulier de basé. Ligne mélodique qui contient les notes les plus graves.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set basée and basse apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
basée
5 ch
basse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: basée is \ba.ze\ while basse is \bɑs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - é in “basée” becomes s in “basse”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

basée is recorded at frequency rank #4,126, classified as anadj, pronounced \ba.ze\. basse is at rank #2,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɑs\.

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 6288, this pair ranks #426,652 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of basée vs basse

Shared letters: abes. Private to "basée": é. Private to "basse": -.

"basée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "basse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • basseabsse · bbasse · bsase

Frequency comparison

basée#4,126
basse#2,162

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "basée" and "basse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "basée" is an adjective and "basse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "basée" or "basse"?
"basse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,162 in our French list, against #4,126 for "basée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering basée vs basse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “basée”; for a noun, it's “basse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “basée” 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