baúvsbomConfusable pair

Quick tell: baú is a noun, bom is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“baú” is a noun and “bom” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,895
“baú” frequency rank
#96
“bom” frequency rank
13991
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baú bom
Definition caixa retangular com tampa convexa e geralmente revestida de couro cru 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: baú vs bom

Shared letters muted; letters that set baú and bom apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
baú
3 ch
bom

Grammar separator: baú vs bom

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: baú 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 13991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baú is recorded at frequency rank #13,895, classified as anoun, pronounced /ba.ˈu/. 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 13991, this pair ranks #58,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of baú vs bom

Shared letters: b. Private to "baú": . Private to "bom": mo.

"baú" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "bom" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "baú" for "bom" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "baú" is a noun and "bom" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "baú" or "bom"?
"bom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #96 in our Portuguese list, against #13,895 for "baú". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pair "baú" vs "bom" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baú" 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 #58,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baú" and "bom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baú vs bué". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #58,212 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list