gastarvsgastosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gastar is a verb, gastos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gastar” is a verb and “gastos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,210
“gastar” frequency rank
#1,853
“gastos” frequency rank
7063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gastar gastos
Definition Provocar el consumo, deterioro o destrucción de algo por el uso. Forma del plural de gasto.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gastar and gastos apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
gastar
6 ch
gastos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gastar is [gasˈt̪aɾ] while gastos is [ˈgast̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7063, 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]. gastos is at rank #1,853, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈgast̪os].

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 7063, this pair ranks #309,026 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gastar vs gastos

Shared letters: agst. Private to "gastar": r. Private to "gastos": o.

"gastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gastos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gastaragstar · gasatr · gasstar · gastarr · gastra · gasttar · gatsar · ggastar
  • gastosagstos · gasots · gasstos · gastoss · gastso · gasttos · gatsos · ggastos

Frequency comparison

gastar#5,210
gastos#1,853

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gastar" and "gastos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gastar" is a verb and "gastos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gastar" or "gastos"?
"gastos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,853 in our Spanish list, against #5,210 for "gastar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gastar vs gastos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gastar”; for a noun, it's “gastos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gastar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list