bajenvsbatesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,767
“bajen” frequency rank
#23,320
“bates” frequency rank
36087
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bajen bates
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de bajar o de bajarse. Forma del plural de bate.

Where the eye mixes bajen and bates

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
bajen
5 ch
bates

Why the eye confuses bajen with bates

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bajen is [ˈbaxẽn] while bates is [ˈbat̪es]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bajen is recorded at frequency rank #12,767, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbaxẽn]. bates is at rank #23,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbat̪es].

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 36087, this pair ranks #182,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bajen vs bates

Shared letters: abe. Private to "bajen": jn. Private to "bates": st.

"bajen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bajenabjen · baejn · bajenn · bajjen · bajne · bbajen · bjaen · vajen
  • batesabtes · baets · batess · batse · battes · bbates · btaes · vates

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bajen" and "bates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bajen" is a verb and "bates" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "bajen" vs "bates" - which ranks higher?
"bajen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,767 in our Spanish list, against #23,320 for "bates". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "bajen" and "bates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bajen" 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 #182,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bajen" and "bates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bane vs bates". 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 #182,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list