Which to use
“pain” and “pas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,200
- “pain” frequency rank
- #11,643
- “pas” frequency rank
- 47843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pain | pas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pan. | Paso. |
Where the eye mixes pain and pas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pain vs pas
A purely visual mix-up. pain ([pɛ̃]) 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 47843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pain is recorded at frequency rank #36,200, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɛ̃]. 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 47843, this pair ranks #117,801 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pain vs pas
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pain": in. Private to "pas": s.
"pain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pain ← apin · painn · pani · pian · ppain
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pain" for "pas" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pain" or "pas" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pain" and "pas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pain" 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 #117,801 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pain" and "pas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pa'l vs pain". 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 #117,801 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.