gastesvsgentesTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#23,795
“gastes” frequency rank
#8,665
“gentes” frequency rank
32460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gastes gentes
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de gastar o de gastarse. Conjunto de personas, en particular si pertenecen al pueblo común, a un grupo específico o a un grupo diferente a aquel con el que se identifica el hablante.

Where the eye mixes gastes and gentes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gastes and gentes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
gastes
6 ch
gentes

Why the eye confuses gastes with gentes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gastes is [ˈgast̪es] while gentes is [ˈxẽn̪t̪es]. 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 32460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gastes is recorded at frequency rank #23,795, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgast̪es]. gentes is at rank #8,665, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈxẽn̪t̪es].

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 32460, this pair ranks #201,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gastes vs gentes

Shared letters: egst. Private to "gastes": a. Private to "gentes": n.

"gastes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "gentes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gastes ← agstes · gasets · gasstes · gastess · gastse · gasttes · gatses · ggastes
  • gentes ← egntes · genets · genntes · gentess · gentse · genttes · getnes · ggentes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gastes" for "gentes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gastes" is a verb and "gentes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gastes" or "gentes"?
"gentes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,665 in our Spanish list, against #23,795 for "gastes". 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 "gastes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gentes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #201,823 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gastes" and "gentes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gasteiz vs gastes". 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 #201,823 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