Which to use
“bassins” and “bastions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,276
- “bassins” frequency rank
- #24,874
- “bastions” frequency rank
- 35150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bassins | bastions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de bassin. | Pluriel de bastion. |
Where the eye mixes bassins and bastions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bassins runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against bastions's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bassins with bastions
A purely visual mix-up. bassins (\ba.sɛ̃\) and bastions (\bas.tjɔ̃\) 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 35150, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bassins is recorded at frequency rank #10,276, classified as anoun, pronounced \ba.sɛ̃\. bastions is at rank #24,874, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bas.tjɔ̃\.
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 35150, this pair ranks #278,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bassins vs bastions
Shared letters: abins. Private to "bassins": -. Private to "bastions": ot.
"bassins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "bastions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bassins" and "bastions" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "bassins" or "bastions"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bassins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bastions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bassins" and "bastions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bastian vs bastions". 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 #278,786 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.