binvsbosTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#8,722
“bin” frequency rank
#41,858
“bos” frequency rank
50580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bin bos
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo sein: floresta, bosque

Where the eye mixes bin and bos

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

3 ch
bin
3 ch
bos

Look-alike desk: bin vs bos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bin is /bɪn/ while bos is /bɔs/. 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 50580, 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/. bos is at rank #41,858, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɔs/.

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 50580, this pair ranks #14,391 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bin vs bos

Shared letters: b. Private to "bin": in. Private to "bos": os.

"bin" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "bos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bin" for "bos" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bin" is a verb and "bos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bin" or "bos" show up more?
"bin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,722 in our Portuguese list, against #41,858 for "bos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "bin" and "bos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,391 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bin" and "bos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bos vs bué". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #14,391 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