bondsvsboxesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#27,343
“bonds” frequency rank
#41,683
“boxes” frequency rank
69026
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bonds boxes
Definition Pluriel de bond. Pluriel de boxe.

Where the eye mixes bonds and boxes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bonds (CVCCC) and boxes (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
bonds
5 ch
boxes

Why the eye confuses bonds with boxes

A purely visual mix-up. bonds (\bɔ̃\) and boxes (\bɔks\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bonds is recorded at frequency rank #27,343, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔ̃\. boxes is at rank #41,683, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɔks\.

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 69026, this pair ranks #56,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bonds vs boxes

Shared letters: bos. Private to "bonds": dn. Private to "boxes": ex.

"bonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "boxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bonds ← bbonds · bnods · bodns · bondds · bondss · bonnds · bonsd · obnds
  • boxes ← bboxes · boexs · boxess · boxse · boxxes · bxoes · obxes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bonds" for "boxes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\bɔ̃\ versus \bɔks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bonds" vs "boxes" - which ranks higher?
"bonds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,343 in our French list, against #41,683 for "boxes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bonds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boxes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bonds" and "boxes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bordés vs boxes". 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 #56,777 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list