Which to use
“bad” is a noun and “bom” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,699
- “bad” frequency rank
- #96
- “bom” frequency rank
- 4795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bad | bom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | banho | que corresponde plenamente ao que é exigido, desejado ou esperado quanto à sua natureza, adequação, função, eficácia, funcionamento etc. (falando de ser ou coisa) |
Letter map: bad vs bom
Shared letters muted; letters that set bad and bom apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: bad vs bom
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bad is anoun and bomanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bad is recorded at frequency rank #4,699, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑt/. bom is at rank #96, tagged as anadj.
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 4795, this pair ranks #69,987 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bad vs bom
Shared letters: b. Private to "bad": ad. Private to "bom": mo.
"bad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bad" and "bom" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bad" or "bom" show up more?
After this comparison
You've compared "bad" and "bom". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "bad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,987 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bad" and "bom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bad vs bué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,987 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.