Which to use
“ruban” and “rubis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,400
- “ruban” frequency rank
- #19,143
- “rubis” frequency rank
- 29543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ruban | rubis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bande étroite de tissu qui est plate et mince. | Pierre précieuse très dure, transparente et d’un rouge plus ou moins vif. Sa formule chimique est Al₂O₃:Cr. |
Where the eye mixes ruban and rubis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ruban with rubis
A purely visual mix-up. ruban (\ʁy.bɑ̃\) and rubis (\ʁy.bi\) 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 29543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ruban is recorded at frequency rank #10,400, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁy.bɑ̃\. rubis is at rank #19,143, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁy.bi\.
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 29543, this pair ranks #316,014 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ruban vs rubis
Shared letters: bru. Private to "ruban": an. Private to "rubis": is.
"ruban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "rubis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ruban" for "rubis" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ruban" or "rubis"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ruban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rubis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,014 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ruban" and "rubis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reis vs rubis". 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 #316,014 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.