böservsBoteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: böser is a adjective, Bote is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“böser” is an adjective and “Bote” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,112
“böser” frequency rank
#13,327
“Bote” frequency rank
26439
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature böser Bote
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bös Person, die etwas überbringt, zum Beispiel eine Nachricht, Laufbursche einer Firma

Where the eye mixes böser and Bote

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
böser
4 ch
Bote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: böser is [ˈbøːzɐ] while Bote is [ˈboːtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

böser is recorded at frequency rank #13,112, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbøːzɐ]. Bote is at rank #13,327, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈboːtə].

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 26439, this pair ranks #1,818,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of böser vs Bote

Shared letters: be. Private to "böser": rsö. Private to "Bote": ot.

"böser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Bote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Botebbote · boet · botte · btoe · obte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "böser" and "Bote" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "böser" is an adjective and "Bote" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "böser" or "Bote"?
"böser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,112 in our German list, against #13,327 for "Bote". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list