Which to use
“pace” and “pateo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,175
- “pace” frequency rank
- #46,713
- “pateo” frequency rank
- 81888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pace | pateo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pacer. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de patear. |
Where the eye mixes pace and pateo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pace runs 4 letters (CVCV) against pateo's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pace with pateo
A purely visual mix-up. pace ([ˈpase]) and pateo ([paˈt̪eo]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pace is recorded at frequency rank #35,175, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpase]. pateo is at rank #46,713, tagged as averb, pronounced [paˈt̪eo].
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 81888, this pair ranks #9,868 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pace vs pateo
Shared letters: aep. Private to "pace": c. Private to "pateo": ot.
"pace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "pateo" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pace" and "pateo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pace" or "pateo" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pateo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,868 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pace" and "pateo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pateo vs platero". 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 #9,868 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.