Which to use
“build” is a verb and “buis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,083
- “build” frequency rank
- #28,864
- “buis” frequency rank
- 58947
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | build | buis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Construire, édifier. | 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 build and buis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between build and buis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: build is \bɪld\ 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
build is recorded at frequency rank #30,083, classified as averb, pronounced \bɪld\. 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 58947, this pair ranks #105,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of build vs buis
Shared letters: biu. Private to "build": dl. Private to "buis": s.
"build" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "buis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "build" and "buis" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "build" or "buis"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "build" and "buis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "build" 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 #105,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "build" and "buis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bold vs build". 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 #105,979 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.