Which to use
“baux” and “boyaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,408
- “baux” frequency rank
- #34,906
- “boyaux” frequency rank
- 53314
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baux | boyaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de bau. | Pluriel de boyau. |
Where the eye mixes baux and boyaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. baux runs 4 letters (CVVC) against boyaux's 6 (CVVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses baux with boyaux
A purely visual mix-up. baux (\bo\) and boyaux (\bwa.jo\) 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 53314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baux is recorded at frequency rank #18,408, classified as anoun, pronounced \bo\. boyaux is at rank #34,906, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bwa.jo\.
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 53314, this pair ranks #141,573 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of baux vs boyaux
Shared letters: abux. Private to "baux": -. Private to "boyaux": oy.
"baux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "boyaux" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "baux" for "boyaux" ever safe?
Which is more common, "baux" or "boyaux"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "baux" and "boyaux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "baux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "boyaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,573 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baux" and "boyaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bocaux vs boyaux". 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 #141,573 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.