pagavspasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,409
“paga” frequency rank
#11,643
“pas” frequency rank
14052
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paga pas
Definition Acción o efecto de pagar. Paso.

Where the eye mixes paga and pas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
paga
3 ch
pas

Look-alike desk: paga vs pas

A purely visual mix-up. paga ([ˈpaɣ̞a]) and pas ([ˈpas]) 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 14052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paga is recorded at frequency rank #2,409, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaɣ̞a]. pas is at rank #11,643, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpas].

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 14052, this pair ranks #285,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of paga vs pas

Shared letters: ap. Private to "paga": g. Private to "pas": s.

"paga" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pagaapga · paag · pagga · pgaa · ppaga

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "paga" for "pas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpaɣ̞a] versus [ˈpas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "paga" or "pas"?
"paga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,409 in our Spanish list, against #11,643 for "pas". 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 "paga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #285,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paga" and "pas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pas vs PRC". 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 #285,573 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