Which to use
“basses” and “buses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,588
- “basses” frequency rank
- #47,198
- “buses” frequency rank
- 53786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | basses | buses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bancs de sable, ou rochers cachés sous l'eau. | Pluriel de buse. |
Where the eye mixes basses and buses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between basses and buses
A purely visual mix-up. basses (\bɑs\) and buses (\byz\) 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 53786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
basses is recorded at frequency rank #6,588, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɑs\. buses is at rank #47,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced \byz\.
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 53786, this pair ranks #138,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of basses vs buses
Shared letters: bes. Private to "basses": a. Private to "buses": u.
"basses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "buses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "basses" and "buses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "basses" vs "buses" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "basses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "basses" and "buses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "busan vs buses". 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 #138,371 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.