Which to use
“pasts” and “pesto” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,990
- “pasts” frequency rank
- #33,789
- “pesto” frequency rank
- 78779
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pasts | pesto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of past | A sauce, especially for pasta, originating from the Genoa region in Italy, made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and cheese (usually pecorino). |
Where the eye mixes pasts and pesto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pasts (CVCCC) and pesto (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between pasts and pesto
A purely visual mix-up. pasts (/pɑːsts/) and pesto (/ˈpɛstoʊ/) 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 78779, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pasts is recorded at frequency rank #44,990, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑːsts/. pesto is at rank #33,789, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛstoʊ/.
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 78779, this pair ranks #23,796 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pasts vs pesto
Shared letters: pst. Private to "pasts": a. Private to "pesto": eo.
"pasts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "pesto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pasts" and "pesto" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "pasts" or "pesto" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pasts" and "pesto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pasts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pesto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,796 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pasts" and "pesto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Palos vs pasts". 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 #23,796 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.