batesvsBitsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bates is a verb, Bits is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bates” is a verb and “Bits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,536
“bates” frequency rank
#26,787
“Bits” frequency rank
61323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bates Bits
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bate Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bit

Letter map: bates vs Bits

Shared letters muted; letters that set bates and Bits apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
bates
4 ch
Bits

Part-of-speech tell for bates / Bits

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bates is averb and Bitsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bates is recorded at frequency rank #34,536, classified as averb, pronounced […]. Bits is at rank #26,787, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɪt͡s].

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 61323, this pair ranks #754,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bates vs Bits

Shared letters: bst. Private to "bates": ae. Private to "Bits": i.

"bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Bits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • batesbatess · batse · battes · bbates · btaes
  • Bitsbbits · bitss · bitts · btis · ibts

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bates" for "Bits" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bates" is a verb and "Bits" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bates" or "Bits" show up more?
"Bits" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,787 in our German list, against #34,536 for "bates". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "bates" and "Bits".

  • Full dictionary entry for "bates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #754,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bates" and "Bits" 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 #754,092 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list