Which to use
“pagan” is a verb and “pasa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,867
- “pagan” frequency rank
- #270
- “pasa” frequency rank
- 4137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pagan | pasa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pagar o de pagarse. | Uva seca, deshidratada parcialmente, sea de forma natural o por acción humana al cocerla al calor. |
Where the eye mixes pagan and pasa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pagan runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against pasa's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pagan vs pasa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pagan is [ˈpaɣ̞ãn] while pasa is [ˈpasa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pagan is recorded at frequency rank #3,867, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpaɣ̞ãn]. pasa is at rank #270, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpasa].
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 4137, this pair ranks #316,780 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pagan vs pasa
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pagan": gn. Private to "pasa": s.
"pagan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pasa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pagan" for "pasa" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pagan" or "pasa" show up more?
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 "pagan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pasa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,780 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pagan" and "pasa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pagan vs pelan". 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 #316,780 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.