Which to use
“bom” is an adjective and “bos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #96
- “bom” frequency rank
- #41,858
- “bos” frequency rank
- 41954
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bom | bos |
|---|---|---|
| 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) | floresta, bosque |
Letter map: bom vs bos
Shared letters muted; letters that set bom and bos apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: bom vs bos
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bom is anadjective and bosanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - m in “bom” becomes s in “bos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bom is recorded at frequency rank #96, classified as anadj. 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 41954, this pair ranks #23,891 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bom vs bos
Shared letters: bo. Private to "bom": m. Private to "bos": s.
"bom" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bom" for "bos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bom" or "bos"?
After this comparison
You've compared "bom" and "bos". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "bom" 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 #23,891 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bom" and "bos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bos vs bué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #23,891 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.