boavsbotãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#165
“boa” frequency rank
#4,293
“botão” frequency rank
4458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature boa botão
Definition jiboia dispositivo encontrado em máquinas usado - pressionando - para mudar o estado da máquina, começar ou parar um processo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set boa and botão apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
boa
5 ch
botão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. boa (/ˈbo.ɐ/) and botão (/bu.ˈtɐ̃w̃/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

boa is recorded at frequency rank #165, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbo.ɐ/. botão is at rank #4,293, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bu.ˈtɐ̃w̃/.

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 4458, this pair ranks #70,439 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of boa vs botão

Shared letters: bo. Private to "boa": a. Private to "botão": .

"boa" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "botão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

boa#165
botão#4,293

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "boa" and "botão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbo.ɐ/ versus /bu.ˈtɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "boa" or "botão"?
"boa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #165 in our Portuguese list, against #4,293 for "botão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering boa vs botão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “boa” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list