paradavspasadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,646
“parada” frequency rank
#226
“pasado” frequency rank
3872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parada pasado
Definition Acción o efecto de parar, detenerse, suspender un movimiento o acción. Temporada antes del presente.

Where the eye mixes parada and pasado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
parada
6 ch
pasado

Why the eye confuses parada with pasado

A purely visual mix-up. parada ([paˈɾað̞a]) and pasado ([paˈsað̞o]) 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 3872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parada is recorded at frequency rank #3,646, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈɾað̞a]. pasado is at rank #226, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈsað̞o].

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 3872, this pair ranks #317,378 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parada vs pasado

Shared letters: adp. Private to "parada": r. Private to "pasado": os.

"parada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pasado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paradaaprada · paarda · paraad · paradda · pardaa · parrada · pparada · praada
  • pasadoapsado · paasdo · pasaddo · pasaod · pasdao · passado · ppasado · psaado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "parada" and "pasado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([paˈɾað̞a] versus [paˈsað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parada" or "pasado"?
"pasado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #226 in our Spanish list, against #3,646 for "parada". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "parada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pasado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,378 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "parada" and "pasado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parada 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 #317,378 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