BC vs but, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“BC” is an adverb and “but” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,042
“BC” frequency rank: #25
“but” frequency rank: 3067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	BC	but
Definition	Initialism of Before Christ.	Apart from, except (for), excluding.

Letter map: BC vs but

Shared letters muted; letters that set BC and but apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch

3 ch

but

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: BC is anadverb and butapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

BC is recorded at frequency rank #3,042, classified as anadv. but is at rank #25, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ˈbʌt/.

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 3067, this pair ranks #523,213 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of BC vs but

Shared letters: b. Private to "BC": c. Private to "but": tu.

"BC" · 2 letters · shape CC · "but" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "BC" and "but" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "BC" is an adverb and "but" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "BC" or "but"?

"but" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25 in our English list, against #3,042 for "BC". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "BC" and "but". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "BC" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "but" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #523,213 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"BC" and "but" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BC vs BFS". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.