Which to use
“bons” is an adjective and “bras” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #933
- “bons” frequency rank
- #785
- “bras” frequency rank
- 1718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bons | bras |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de bon. | Partie du membre supérieur des humains (et des bipèdes en général) qui s’étend depuis l’épaule (qui la relie au tronc) jusqu’au coude (qui la relie à l’avant-bras). |
Where the eye mixes bons and bras
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bons and bras
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bons is \bɔ̃\ while bras is \bʁa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bons is recorded at frequency rank #933, classified as anadj, pronounced \bɔ̃\. bras is at rank #785, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bʁa\.
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 1718, this pair ranks #437,524 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bons vs bras
Shared letters: bs. Private to "bons": no. Private to "bras": ar.
"bons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bras" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bons" and "bras" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "bons" or "bras" show up more?
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 "bons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,524 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bons" and "bras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bold vs bons". 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 #437,524 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.