botavsbotãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,725
“bota” frequency rank
#4,293
“botão” frequency rank
13018
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bota botão
Definition calçado que cobre o pé e parte da canela 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 bota and botão apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
bota
5 ch
botão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bota (/ˈbɔ.tə/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13018, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bota is recorded at frequency rank #8,725, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɔ.tə/. 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 13018, this pair ranks #59,424 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bota vs botão

Shared letters: bot. Private to "bota": a. Private to "botão": ã.

"bota" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "botão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • botabbota · botta · btoa · obta

Frequency comparison

bota#8,725
botão#4,293

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bota" and "botão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbɔ.tə/ versus /bu.ˈtɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bota" or "botão"?
"botão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,293 in our Portuguese list, against #8,725 for "bota". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bota 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 “bota” 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