Which to use
“bon” is an adjective and “but” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,479
- “bon” frequency rank
- #7,254
- “but” frequency rank
- 17733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bon | but |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bom | mas, porém, todavia |
Letter map: bon vs but
Shared letters muted; letters that set bon and but apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Role in the sentence - bon and but
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bon is anadjective and butaconjunction. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bon is recorded at frequency rank #10,479, classified as anadj. but is at rank #7,254, tagged as aconj.
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 17733, this pair ranks #53,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bon vs but
Shared letters: b. Private to "bon": no. Private to "but": tu.
"bon" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "but" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bon" and "but" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "bon" or "but" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "bon" vs "but" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "bon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "but" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bon" and "but" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bon vs bué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #53,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.