Which to use
“balls” is a noun and “bates” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,255
- “balls” frequency rank
- #34,536
- “bates” frequency rank
- 58791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | balls | bates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs ball | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bate |
Letter map: balls vs bates
Shared letters muted; letters that set balls and bates apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: balls vs bates
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: balls is anoun and batesaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
balls is recorded at frequency rank #24,255, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɔːlz]. bates is at rank #34,536, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 58791, this pair ranks #849,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of balls vs bates
Shared letters: abs. Private to "balls": l. Private to "bates": et.
"balls" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "balls" for "bates" ever safe?
Which is more common, "balls" or "bates"?
Useful next steps
Pair "balls" vs "bates" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "balls" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #849,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "balls" and "bates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bates vs puzzles". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #849,161 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.