bavervsbaveuxWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: baver is a verb, baveux is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“baver” is a verb and “baveux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,562
“baver” frequency rank
#42,182
“baveux” frequency rank
67744
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baver baveux
Definition Laisser échapper de la bave. Qui bave.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
baver
6 ch
baveux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: baver is \ba.ve\ while baveux is \ba.vø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baver is recorded at frequency rank #25,562, classified as averb, pronounced \ba.ve\. baveux is at rank #42,182, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ba.vø\.

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 67744, this pair ranks #62,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baver vs baveux

Shared letters: abev. Private to "baver": r. Private to "baveux": ux.

"baver" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "baveux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baverabver · baevr · baverr · bavre · bavver · bbaver · bvaer
  • baveuxabveux · baevux · baveuxx · bavexu · bavuex · bavveux · bbaveux · bvaeux

Frequency comparison

baver#25,562
baveux#42,182

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baver" and "baveux" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baver" is a verb and "baveux" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "baver" or "baveux"?
"baver" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,562 in our French list, against #42,182 for "baveux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering baver vs baveux

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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