Which to use
“rabais” and “rubans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,034
- “rabais” frequency rank
- #21,155
- “rubans” frequency rank
- 33189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rabais | rubans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acte par lequel un vendeur consent une diminution sur le prix d’un objet ou sur la rémunération d’un travail. | Pluriel de ruban. |
Where the eye mixes rabais and rubans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. rabais (CVCVVC) and rubans (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between rabais and rubans
A purely visual mix-up. rabais (\ʁa.bɛ\) and rubans (\ʁy.bɑ̃\) 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 33189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rabais is recorded at frequency rank #12,034, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁa.bɛ\. rubans is at rank #21,155, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁy.bɑ̃\.
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 33189, this pair ranks #292,287 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rabais vs rubans
Shared letters: abrs. Private to "rabais": i. Private to "rubans": nu.
"rabais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "rubans" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "rabais" and "rubans" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "rabais" vs "rubans" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rabais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rubans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #292,287 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rabais" and "rubans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabais vs rachis". 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 #292,287 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.