batervsbotarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,807
“bater” frequency rank
#8,299
“botar” frequency rank
10106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bater botar
Definition dar pancada, com objeto, com a mão ou com o pé, em; golpear pôr

Where the eye mixes bater and botar

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

5 ch
bater
5 ch
botar

Look-alike desk: bater vs botar

A purely visual mix-up. bater (/bɐ.ˈteɾ/) and botar (/bu.ˈtaɾ/) 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 10106, 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/. botar is at rank #8,299, tagged as averb, pronounced /bu.ˈtaɾ/.

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 10106, this pair ranks #63,111 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bater vs botar

Shared letters: abrt. Private to "bater": e. Private to "botar": o.

"bater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "botar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baterabter · baetr · baterr · batre · batter · bbater · btaer
  • botarbbotar · boatr · botarr · botra · bottar · btoar · obtar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bater" for "botar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/bɐ.ˈteɾ/ versus /bu.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bater" or "botar"?
"bater" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,807 in our Portuguese list, against #8,299 for "botar". 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 "bater" and "botar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "botar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,111 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bater" and "botar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bolor vs botar". 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 #63,111 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