batesvsBösesTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#34,536
“bates” frequency rank
#7,886
“Böses” frequency rank
42422
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bates Böses
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bate Inbegriff für alles, was nicht gut respektive ethisch falsch ist

Letter map: bates vs Böses

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

5 ch
bates
5 ch
Böses

Role in the sentence - bates and Böses

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: bates is averb and Bösesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bates is recorded at frequency rank #34,536, classified as averb, pronounced […]. Böses is at rank #7,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbøːzəs].

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 42422, this pair ranks #1,449,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bates vs Böses

Shared letters: bes. Private to "bates": at. Private to "Böses": ö.

"bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Böses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • batesbatess · batse · battes · bbates · btaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bates" for "Böses" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bates" is a verb and "Böses" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bates" or "Böses" show up more?
"Böses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,886 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 "Böses".

  • Full dictionary entry for "bates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Böses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,449,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bates" and "Böses" 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 #1,449,781 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