paísvspanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#133
“país” frequency rank
#1,324
“pan” frequency rank
1457
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature país pan
Definition Comunidad humana numerosa, organizada en un territorio, para defender su interés común frente a otras comunidades del mismo tipo. Masa a base de harina y agua endurecida por cocción al horno.

Where the eye mixes país and pan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
país
3 ch
pan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. país ([paˈis]) and pan ([ˈpãn]) 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 1457, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

país is recorded at frequency rank #133, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈis]. pan is at rank #1,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpãn].

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 1457, this pair ranks #322,026 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of país vs pan

Shared letters: ap. Private to "país": . Private to "pan": n.

"país" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "pan" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "país" and "pan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈis] versus [ˈpãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "país" or "pan"?
"país" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #133 in our Spanish list, against #1,324 for "pan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list