Which to use
“bom” and “bon” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #96
- “bom” frequency rank
- #10,479
- “bon” frequency rank
- 10575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bom | bon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que corresponde plenamente ao que é exigido, desejado ou esperado quanto à sua natureza, adequação, função, eficácia, funcionamento etc. (falando de ser ou coisa) | bom |
Letter map: bom vs bon
Shared letters muted; letters that set bom and bon apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Pair insight - bom / bon
bom and bon are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - m in “bom” becomes n in “bon”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bom is recorded at frequency rank #96, classified as anadj. bon is at rank #10,479, 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 10575, this pair ranks #62,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bom vs bon
Shared letters: bo. Private to "bom": m. Private to "bon": n.
"bom" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bon" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bom" for "bon" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bom" vs "bon" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "bom" and "bon". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "bom" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bom" and "bon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bon vs bué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #62,478 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.