We discuss a model of the proton and neutron inelastic structure functions applicable in a wide region of the invariant mass W of produced hadronic states. The model relies on a hybrid approach, in which the scattering at sufficiently large values of W is described in terms of the parton distribution functions, while at low W we account for the contribution from the nucleon resonances. We apply the model to compute the deuteron structure function $$F_{2}^{d}$$ and perform systematic study of the ratios $${{F_{2}^{n}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{F_{2}^{n}} {F_{2}^{d}}}} \right. \kern-0em} {F_{2}^{d}}}$$ and $${{\left( {F_{2}^{p} + F_{2}^{n}} \right)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\left( {F_{2}^{p} + F_{2}^{n}} \right)} {F_{2}^{d}}}} \right. \kern-0em} {F_{2}^{d}}}$$ for both, the deep-inelastic and the resonance, region in the context of recent measurements of BoNuS experiment at Jefferson Lab.