Which to use
“bom” and “bon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,679
- “bom” frequency rank
- #108
- “bon” frequency rank
- 41787
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bom | bon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bon. | Qui a des qualités conformes à ce que l’on attendait. |
Where the eye mixes bom and bon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bom with bon
A purely visual mix-up. bom (\bõ\) and bon (\bɔ̃\) 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 a single letter - m in “bom” becomes n in “bon”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bom is recorded at frequency rank #41,679, classified as anadj, pronounced \bõ\. bon is at rank #108, tagged as anadj, pronounced \bɔ̃\.
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 41787, this pair ranks #230,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bom vs bon
Shared letters: bo. Private to "bom": m. Private to "bon": n.
"bom" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bon" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bom" for "bon" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bom" vs "bon" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bom" and "bon" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bom" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bom" and "bon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bold vs bom". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #230,493 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.