bokvsbomConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#41,372
“bok” frequency rank
#96
“bom” frequency rank
41468
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bok bom
Definition bode 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: bok vs bom

Shared letters muted; letters that set bok and bom apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
bok
3 ch
bom

Part-of-speech tell for bok / bom

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bok is anoun and bomanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - k in “bok” becomes m in “bom”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bok is recorded at frequency rank #41,372, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɔk/. 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 41468, this pair ranks #24,453 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bok vs bom

Shared letters: bo. Private to "bok": k. Private to "bom": m.

"bok" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "bom" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bok" for "bom" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bok" is a noun and "bom" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bok" or "bom"?
"bom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #96 in our Portuguese list, against #41,372 for "bok". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've compared "bok" and "bom". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bok" 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 #24,453 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bok" and "bom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bok vs bué". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #24,453 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