batesvsboxesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bates” and “boxes” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,320
“bates” frequency rank
#40,163
“boxes” frequency rank
63483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bates boxes
Definition Forma del plural de bate. Lugar en donde los vehículos paran durante la competición para repostar, cambiar los neumáticos, hacer reparaciones o ajustes mecánicos, y en algunos casos para cambiar el conductor.

Where the eye mixes bates and boxes

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

5 ch
bates
5 ch
boxes

Look-alike desk: bates vs boxes

A purely visual mix-up. bates ([ˈbat̪es]) and boxes ([ˈbokses]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bates is recorded at frequency rank #23,320, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbat̪es]. boxes is at rank #40,163, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbokses].

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 63483, this pair ranks #48,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bates vs boxes

Shared letters: bes. Private to "bates": at. Private to "boxes": ox.

"bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "boxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • batesabtes · baets · batess · batse · battes · bbates · btaes · vates
  • boxesbboxes · boexs · boxess · boxse · boxxes · bxoes · obxes · voxes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bates" and "boxes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbat̪es] versus [ˈbokses]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "bates" or "boxes" show up more?
"bates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,320 in our Spanish list, against #40,163 for "boxes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boxes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bates" and "boxes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "boxes vs Boyer". 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 #48,594 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