pagabanvspasaránWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,925
“pagaban” frequency rank
#11,833
“pasarán” frequency rank
30758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagaban pasarán
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 futuro de indicativo de pasar.

Where the eye mixes pagaban and pasarán

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
pagaban
7 ch
pasarán

Look-alike desk: pagaban vs pasarán

A purely visual mix-up. pagaban ([paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and pasarán ([pasaˈɾãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30758, 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]. pasarán is at rank #11,833, tagged as averb, pronounced [pasaˈɾãn].

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 30758, this pair ranks #210,429 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pagaban vs pasarán

Shared letters: anp. Private to "pagaban": bg. Private to "pasarán": rsá.

"pagaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pasarán" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pagabanapgaban · paagban · pagaabn · pagabann · pagabban · pagabna · pagavan · pagbaan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pagaban" and "pasarán" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([paˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [pasaˈɾãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pagaban" or "pasarán"?
"pasarán" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,833 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 "pasarán" 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 "pasarán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #210,429 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pagaban" and "pasarán" 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 #210,429 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