gastevsgastenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,165
“gaste” frequency rank
#39,774
“gasten” frequency rank
63939
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gaste gasten
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo 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 gaste and gasten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
gaste
6 ch
gasten

Visual trap between gaste and gasten

A purely visual mix-up. gaste ([ˈgast̪e]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “gaste” sits inside “gasten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gaste is recorded at frequency rank #24,165, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgast̪e]. 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 63939, this pair ranks #47,105 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gaste vs gasten

Shared letters: aegst. Private to "gaste": -. Private to "gasten": n.

"gaste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "gasten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gasteagste · gaset · gasste · gastte · ggaste · gsate
  • gastenagsten · gasetn · gassten · gastenn · gastne · gastten · gatsen · ggasten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gaste" for "gasten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgast̪e] versus [ˈgast̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gaste" or "gasten"?
"gaste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,165 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gaste" 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 #47,105 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gaste" 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 #47,105 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