gastanvsgestarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,919
“gastan” frequency rank
#49,676
“gestar” frequency rank
63595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gastan gestar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de gastar o de gastarse. Llevar el embrión (y luego feto) en el útero y sustentarlo desde la concepción hasta el parto.

Where the eye mixes gastan and gestar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gastan and gestar 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
gestar

Why the eye confuses gastan with gestar

A purely visual mix-up. gastan ([ˈgast̪ãn]) and gestar ([xesˈt̪aɾ]) 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 63595, 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]. gestar is at rank #49,676, tagged as averb, pronounced [xesˈt̪aɾ].

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 63595, this pair ranks #48,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gastan vs gestar

Shared letters: agst. Private to "gastan": n. Private to "gestar": er.

"gastan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gestar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gastan ← agstan · gasatn · gasstan · gastann · gastna · gasttan · gatsan · ggastan
  • gestar ← egstar · gesatr · gesstar · gestarr · gestra · gesttar · getsar · ggestar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gastan" for "gestar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgast̪ãn] versus [xesˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gastan" vs "gestar" - which ranks higher?
"gastan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,919 in our Spanish list, against #49,676 for "gestar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "gestar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gastan" and "gestar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gestar vs guitar". 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 #48,254 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