bonavsBorraWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: bona is a adjective, Borra is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bona” is an adjective and “Borra” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,912
“bona” frequency rank
#14,303
“Borra” frequency rank
49215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bona Borra
Definition Bueno. Apellido.

Where the eye mixes bona and Borra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bona
5 ch
Borra

Why the eye confuses bona with Borra

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bona is /ˈbo.na/ while Borra is [ˈbora]. 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 (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bona is recorded at frequency rank #34,912, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈbo.na/. Borra is at rank #14,303, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈbora].

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 49215, this pair ranks #110,088 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bona vs Borra

Shared letters: abo. Private to "bona": n. Private to "Borra": r.

"bona" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Borra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bonabbona · bnoa · boan · bonna · obna · vona
  • Borrabborra · brora · vorra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bona" for "Borra" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bona" is an adjective and "Borra" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bona" or "Borra"?
"Borra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,303 in our Spanish list, against #34,912 for "bona". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bona" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Borra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,088 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bona" and "Borra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bane vs bona". 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 #110,088 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list