Which to use
“bean” and “bien” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,980
- “bean” frequency rank
- #23,913
- “bien” frequency rank
- 50893
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bean | bien |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | feijão | abelha |
Where the eye mixes bean and bien
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bean with bien
A purely visual mix-up. bean (/biːn/) and bien (/biˈen/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bean is recorded at frequency rank #26,980, classified as anoun, pronounced /biːn/. bien is at rank #23,913, tagged as anoun, pronounced /biˈen/.
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 50893, this pair ranks #14,062 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bean vs bien
Shared letters: ben. Private to "bean": a. Private to "bien": i.
"bean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bien" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bean" for "bien" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bean" or "bien" show up more?
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 "bean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,062 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bean" and "bien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bal vs bean". 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 #14,062 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.