Which to use
“bave” and “bavure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,934
- “bave” frequency rank
- #25,901
- “bavure” frequency rank
- 46835
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bave | bavure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Salive épaisse et visqueuse qui découle de la bouche. | Petite trace que les joints des pièces d’un moule laissent sur l’objet moulé. |
Where the eye mixes bave and bavure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bave runs 4 letters (CVCV) against bavure's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bave and bavure
A purely visual mix-up. bave (\bav\) and bavure (\ba.vyʁ\) 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 46835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bave is recorded at frequency rank #20,934, classified as anoun, pronounced \bav\. bavure is at rank #25,901, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ba.vyʁ\.
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 46835, this pair ranks #191,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bave vs bavure
Shared letters: abev. Private to "bave": -. Private to "bavure": ru.
"bave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bavure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bave" for "bavure" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bave" or "bavure"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bavure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bave" and "bavure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bafa vs bave". 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 #191,689 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.