binvsboaTell them apart

Quick tell: bin is a verb, boa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bin” is a verb and “boa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,722
“bin” frequency rank
#165
“boa” frequency rank
8887
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bin boa
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo sein: jiboia

Where the eye mixes bin and boa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
bin
3 ch
boa

Visual trap between bin and boa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bin is /bɪn/ while boa is /ˈbo.ɐ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bin is recorded at frequency rank #8,722, classified as averb, pronounced /bɪn/. boa is at rank #165, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbo.ɐ/.

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 8887, this pair ranks #64,732 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bin vs boa

Shared letters: b. Private to "bin": in. Private to "boa": ao.

"bin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "boa" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bin" and "boa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bin" is a verb and "boa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "bin" vs "boa" - which ranks higher?
"boa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #165 in our Portuguese list, against #8,722 for "bin". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,732 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bin" and "boa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bile vs bin". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #64,732 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