pagarvspasanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#898
“pagar” frequency rank
#1,692
“pasan” frequency rank
2590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagar pasan
Definition Satisfacer lo que se debía. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pasar.

Where the eye mixes pagar and pasan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
pagar
5 ch
pasan

Visual trap between pagar and pasan

A purely visual mix-up. pagar ([paˈɣ̞aɾ]) and pasan ([ˈpasãn]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagar is recorded at frequency rank #898, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈɣ̞aɾ]. pasan is at rank #1,692, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpasãn].

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 2590, this pair ranks #320,008 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pagar vs pasan

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pagar": gr. Private to "pasan": ns.

"pagar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pasan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pagarapgar · paagr · pagarr · paggar · pagra · pgaar · ppagar
  • pasanapsan · paasn · pasann · pasna · passan · ppasan · psaan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pagar" and "pasan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([paˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [ˈpasãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pagar" vs "pasan" - which ranks higher?
"pagar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #898 in our Spanish list, against #1,692 for "pasan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pagar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pasan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,008 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pagar" and "pasan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pagar vs petar". 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 #320,008 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