parar vs pars, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“parar” is a verb and “pars” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,259
“parar” frequency rank: #44,903
“pars” frequency rank: 47162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	parar	pars
Definition	Detener; evitar el avance, el movimiento o la acción de algo o de alguien.	Una de las porciones (iguales o no) en las que se pueda dividir una cosa (material o no), parte, porción, trozo, pedazo, pieza, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parar and pars apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

parar

4 ch

pars

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: parar is [paˈɾaɾ] while pars is /ˈpars/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parar is recorded at frequency rank #2,259, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈɾaɾ]. pars is at rank #44,903, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpars/.

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 47162, this pair ranks #121,596 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of parar vs pars

Shared letters: apr. Private to "parar": -. Private to "pars": s.

"parar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pars" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

parar ← aprar · paarr · pararr · parrar · pparar · praar
pars ← aprs · parrs · parss · pasr · ppars · pras

Frequency comparison

parar#2,259

pars#44,903

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parar" and "pars" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "parar" is a verb and "pars" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "parar" or "pars"?

"parar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,259 in our Spanish list, against #44,903 for "pars". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering parar vs pars

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “parar”; for a noun, it's “pars”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “parar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable