pasadavspatataWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,992
“pasada” frequency rank
#16,664
“patata” frequency rank
18656
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasada patata
Definition Acción o efecto de pasar o de pasarse. (Solanum tuberosum) Planta herbácea, caducifolia, de la familia de las solanáceas, de tallo erecto o decumbente de hasta 1 m de largo, hojas imparipinnadas, de foliolos lanceolados, pilosas, y flores en inflorescencias terminales racemosas, de pétalos fusionados de color blanco a púrpura, que fructifican en pequeñas bayas. Se la aprecia por los tubérculos que produce su sistema radical, muy usados en gastronomía.

Where the eye mixes pasada and patata

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

6 ch
pasada
6 ch
patata

Look-alike desk: pasada vs patata

A purely visual mix-up. pasada ([paˈsað̞a]) and patata ([paˈt̪at̪a]) 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 18656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasada is recorded at frequency rank #1,992, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈsað̞a]. patata is at rank #16,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈt̪at̪a].

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 18656, this pair ranks #267,005 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pasada vs patata

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pasada": ds. Private to "patata": t.

"pasada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "patata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasadaapsada · paasda · pasaad · pasadda · pasdaa · passada · ppasada · psaada
  • patataaptata · paatta · pataat · patatta · pattaa · pattata · ppatata · ptaata

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pasada" for "patata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paˈsað̞a] versus [paˈt̪at̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pasada" or "patata" show up more?
"pasada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,992 in our Spanish list, against #16,664 for "patata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pasada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "patata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,005 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasada" and "patata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pacta vs patata". 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 #267,005 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