bearsvsbiasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bears” and “bias” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,298
“bears” frequency rank
#45,472
“bias” frequency rank
77770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bears bias
Definition Pluriel de bear. Préjugé, parti pris.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bears and bias apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
bears
4 ch
bias

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bears (\bɛʁ\) and bias (\ˈbaɪ.əs\) 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 77770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bears is recorded at frequency rank #32,298, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɛʁ\. bias is at rank #45,472, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈbaɪ.əs\.

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 77770, this pair ranks #27,514 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bears vs bias

Shared letters: abs. Private to "bears": er. Private to "bias": i.

"bears" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "bias" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bearsbaers · bbears · bearrs · bearss · beasr · beras · ebars
  • biasbais · bbias · biass · bisa · ibas

Frequency comparison

bears#32,298
bias#45,472

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bears" and "bias" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bɛʁ\ versus \ˈbaɪ.əs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bears" or "bias"?
"bears" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,298 in our French list, against #45,472 for "bias". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bears vs bias

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bears” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list