pagabanvspasabanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,925
“pagaban” frequency rank
#9,014
“pasaban” frequency rank
27939
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagaban pasaban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pagar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pasar.

Where the eye mixes pagaban and pasaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
pagaban
7 ch
pasaban

Why the eye confuses pagaban with pasaban

A purely visual mix-up. pagaban ([paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and pasaban ([paˈsaβ̞ãn]) 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 a single letter - g in “pagaban” becomes s in “pasaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagaban is recorded at frequency rank #18,925, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]. pasaban is at rank #9,014, tagged as averb, pronounced [paˈsaβ̞ãn].

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 27939, this pair ranks #224,429 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pagaban vs pasaban

Shared letters: abnp. Private to "pagaban": g. Private to "pasaban": s.

"pagaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pasaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pagabanapgaban · paagban · pagaabn · pagabann · pagabban · pagabna · pagavan · pagbaan
  • pasabanapsaban · paasban · pasaabn · pasabann · pasabban · pasabna · pasavan · pasbaan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pagaban" for "pasaban" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [paˈsaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pagaban" or "pasaban"?
"pasaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,014 in our Spanish list, against #18,925 for "pagaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pagaban" and "pasaban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pagaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pasaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #224,429 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pagaban" and "pasaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pagaban vs paganas". 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 #224,429 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