bastarvsbastardoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bastar is a verb, bastardo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bastar” is a verb and “bastardo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,524
“bastar” frequency rank
#21,910
“bastardo” frequency rank
60434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bastar bastardo
Definition Ser suficiente y proporcionado para alguna cosa. De origen impuro, mestizo o confuso.

Where the eye mixes bastar and bastardo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bastar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against bastardo's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
bastar
8 ch
bastardo

Visual trap between bastar and bastardo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bastar is [basˈt̪aɾ] while bastardo is [basˈt̪aɾð̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bastar” sits inside “bastardo”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bastar is recorded at frequency rank #38,524, classified as averb, pronounced [basˈt̪aɾ]. bastardo is at rank #21,910, tagged as anadj, pronounced [basˈt̪aɾð̞o].

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 60434, this pair ranks #58,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bastar vs bastardo

Shared letters: abrst. Private to "bastar": -. Private to "bastardo": do.

"bastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "bastardo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bastar ← abstar · basatr · basstar · bastarr · bastra · basttar · batsar · bbastar
  • bastardo ← abstardo · basatrdo · basstardo · bastadro · bastarddo · bastarod · bastarrdo · bastrado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bastar" and "bastardo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bastar" is a verb and "bastardo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bastar" or "bastardo"?
"bastardo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,910 in our Spanish list, against #38,524 for "bastar". 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 "bastar" and "bastardo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bastar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bastardo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bastar" and "bastardo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "basas vs bastar". 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 #58,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list