bondvsbondsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bond” and “bonds” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,517
“bond” frequency rank
#4,507
“bonds” frequency rank
7024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bond bonds
Definition A document constituting evidence of a long-term debt, by which the bond issuer (the borrower) is obliged to pay interest when due, and repay the principal at maturity, as specified on the face of the bond certificate. The rights of the holder are specified in the bond indenture, which contains the legal terms and conditions under which the bond was issued. Bonds are available in two forms: registered bonds, and bearer bonds. plural of bond

Where the eye mixes bond and bonds

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bond
5 ch
bonds

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bond (/bɒnd/) and bonds (/bɑndz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “bond” sits inside “bonds”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bond is recorded at frequency rank #2,517, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɒnd/. bonds is at rank #4,507, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɑndz/.

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 7024, this pair ranks #508,905 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bond vs bonds

Shared letters: bdno. Private to "bond": -. Private to "bonds": s.

"bond" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "bonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bondbbond · bnod · bodn · bondd · bonnd · obnd
  • bondsbbonds · bnods · bodns · bondds · bondss · bonnds · bonsd · obnds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bond" and "bonds" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bɒnd/ versus /bɑndz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bond" or "bonds"?
"bond" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,517 in our English list, against #4,507 for "bonds". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "bond" and "bonds". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bond" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bonds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #508,905 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bond" and "bonds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bendy vs bonds". 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

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list