Which to use
“bruns” is an adjective and “buis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,871
- “bruns” frequency rank
- #28,864
- “buis” frequency rank
- 43735
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bruns | buis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de brun. | Genre de la famille des Buxacées comprenant l’espèce Buxus sempervirens, arbrisseau sempervirent, dont le bois, jaunâtre et très dur, et surtout celui de sa racine sont d’un grand usage dans la tabletterie. → voir Buxus |
Where the eye mixes bruns and buis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bruns with buis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bruns is \bʁœ̃\ while buis is \bɥi\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bruns is recorded at frequency rank #14,871, classified as anadj, pronounced \bʁœ̃\. buis is at rank #28,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɥi\.
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 43735, this pair ranks #215,826 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bruns vs buis
Shared letters: bsu. Private to "bruns": nr. Private to "buis": i.
"bruns" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "buis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bruns" for "buis" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "bruns" or "buis" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bruns" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #215,826 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bruns" and "buis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "buis vs bury". 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 #215,826 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.