batervsboateTell them apart

Which to use

“bater” and “boate” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,807
“bater” frequency rank
#9,450
“boate” frequency rank
11257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bater boate
Definition dar pancada, com objeto, com a mão ou com o pé, em; golpear primeira pessoa do singular do presente do conjuntivo/subjuntivo do verbo boatar

Where the eye mixes bater and boate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bater (CVCVC) and boate (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
bater
5 ch
boate

Look-alike desk: bater vs boate

A purely visual mix-up. bater (/bɐ.ˈteɾ/) and boate (/bo.ˈa.ʧi/, /bu.ˈwa.ʧi/) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bater is recorded at frequency rank #1,807, classified as averb, pronounced /bɐ.ˈteɾ/. boate is at rank #9,450, tagged as averb, pronounced /bo.ˈa.ʧi/, /bu.ˈwa.ʧi/.

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 11257, this pair ranks #61,632 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bater vs boate

Shared letters: abet. Private to "bater": r. Private to "boate": o.

"bater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "boate" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bater ← abter · baetr · baterr · batre · batter · bbater · btaer
  • boate ← baote · bboate · boaet · boatte · botae · obate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bater" and "boate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/bɐ.ˈteɾ/ versus /bo.ˈa.ʧi/, /bu.ˈwa.ʧi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bater" vs "boate" - which ranks higher?
"bater" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,807 in our Portuguese list, against #9,450 for "boate". 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 "bater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,632 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bater" and "boate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beata vs boate". 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 #61,632 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list