pararávspasaráWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,729
“parará” frequency rank
#4,274
“pasará” frequency rank
41003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parará pasará
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de parar o de pararse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de pasar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parará and pasará apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
parará
6 ch
pasará

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parará ([paɾaˈɾa]) and pasará ([pasaˈɾa]) 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 a single letter - r in “parará” becomes s in “pasará”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parará is recorded at frequency rank #36,729, classified as averb, pronounced [paɾaˈɾa]. pasará is at rank #4,274, tagged as averb, pronounced [pasaˈɾa].

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 41003, this pair ranks #156,035 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of parará vs pasará

Shared letters: aprá. Private to "parará": -. Private to "pasará": s.

"parará" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pasará" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

parará#36,729
pasará#4,274

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parará" and "pasará" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paɾaˈɾa] versus [pasaˈɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parará" or "pasará"?
"pasará" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,274 in our Spanish list, against #36,729 for "parará". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parará vs pasará

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “parará” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list