gastarvsgastenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,210
“gastar” frequency rank
#39,774
“gasten” frequency rank
44984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gastar gasten
Definition Provocar el consumo, deterioro o destrucción de algo por el uso. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de gastar o de gastarse.

Where the eye mixes gastar and gasten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gastar 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
gastar
6 ch
gasten

Visual trap between gastar and gasten

A purely visual mix-up. gastar ([gasˈt̪aɾ]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gastar is recorded at frequency rank #5,210, classified as averb, pronounced [gasˈt̪aɾ]. 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 44984, this pair ranks #133,970 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gastar vs gasten

Shared letters: agst. Private to "gastar": r. Private to "gasten": en.

"gastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gastar ← agstar · gasatr · gasstar · gastarr · gastra · gasttar · gatsar · ggastar
  • gasten ← agsten · gasetn · gassten · gastenn · gastne · gastten · gatsen · ggasten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gastar" for "gasten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([gasˈt̪aɾ] versus [ˈgast̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gastar" or "gasten"?
"gastar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,210 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "gastar" and "gasten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gastar" 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 #133,970 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gastar" 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 #133,970 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