bevsboxConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,769
“be” frequency rank
#10,459
“box” frequency rank
15228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature be box
Definition Nombre de la letra b. Boxeo.

Where the eye mixes be and box

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
be
3 ch
box

Look-alike desk: be vs box

A purely visual mix-up. be ([ˈbe]) and box ([ˈboks]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

be is recorded at frequency rank #4,769, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbe]. box is at rank #10,459, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈboks].

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 15228, this pair ranks #281,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of be vs box

Shared letters: b. Private to "be": e. Private to "box": ox.

"be" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "box" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "be" for "box" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbe] versus [ˈboks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "be" or "box"?
"be" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,769 in our Spanish list, against #10,459 for "box". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "be" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "box" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #281,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "be" and "box" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "box vs Bru". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #281,030 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