Which to use
“países” is a noun and “pasen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #354
- “países” frequency rank
- #4,817
- “pasen” frequency rank
- 5171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | países | pasen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de país. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de pasar. |
Where the eye mixes países and pasen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between países and pasen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: países is [paˈises] while pasen is [ˈpasẽn]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
países is recorded at frequency rank #354, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈises]. pasen is at rank #4,817, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpasẽn].
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 5171, this pair ranks #314,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of países vs pasen
Shared letters: aeps. Private to "países": í. Private to "pasen": n.
"países" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "pasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pasen ← apsen · pacen · paesn · pasenn · pasne · passen · ppasen · psaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "países" for "pasen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "países" vs "pasen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "países" and "pasen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "países" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pasen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "países" and "pasen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasen vs pateo". 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 #314,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.