gastanvsgastenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gastan” and “gasten” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,919
“gastan” frequency rank
#39,774
“gasten” frequency rank
53693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gastan gasten
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de gastar o de gastarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de gastar o de gastarse.

Where the eye mixes gastan and gasten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gastan and gasten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
gastan
6 ch
gasten

Look-alike desk: gastan vs gasten

A purely visual mix-up. gastan ([ˈgast̪ãn]) and gasten ([ˈgast̪ẽn]) 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 a single letter - a in “gastan” becomes e in “gasten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gastan is recorded at frequency rank #13,919, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgast̪ãn]. gasten is at rank #39,774, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈgast̪ẽn].

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 53693, this pair ranks #86,691 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gastan vs gasten

Shared letters: agnst. Private to "gastan": -. Private to "gasten": e.

"gastan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gastan ← agstan · gasatn · gasstan · gastann · gastna · gasttan · gatsan · ggastan
  • gasten ← agsten · gasetn · gassten · gastenn · gastne · gastten · gatsen · ggasten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gastan" and "gasten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgast̪ãn] versus [ˈgast̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gastan" or "gasten"?
"gastan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,919 in our Spanish list, against #39,774 for "gasten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gastan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gasten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #86,691 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gastan" and "gasten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gasteiz vs gasten". 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 #86,691 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