paisavspasConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,754
“paisa” frequency rank
#11,643
“pas” frequency rank
45397
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paisa pas
Definition Amigo o compañero con quien se tiene mucha intimidad. Paso.

Where the eye mixes paisa and pas

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

5 ch
paisa
3 ch
pas

Visual trap between paisa and pas

A purely visual mix-up. paisa ([ˈpajsa]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45397, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paisa is recorded at frequency rank #33,754, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpajsa]. 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 45397, this pair ranks #131,670 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paisa vs pas

Shared letters: aps. Private to "paisa": i. Private to "pas": -.

"paisa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "pas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paisaapisa · paias · paissa · pasia · piasa · ppaisa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "paisa" and "pas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpajsa] versus [ˈpas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "paisa" vs "pas" - which ranks higher?
"pas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,643 in our Spanish list, against #33,754 for "paisa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "paisa" 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 #131,670 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paisa" and "pas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paisa vs parca". 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 #131,670 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