pasadovspasoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#226
“pasado” frequency rank
#343
“paso” frequency rank
569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasado paso
Definition Temporada antes del presente. Cada uno de los movimientos de avance de las piernas al caminar.

Where the eye mixes pasado and paso

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

6 ch
pasado
4 ch
paso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pasado ([paˈsað̞o]) and paso ([ˈpaso]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasado is recorded at frequency rank #226, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈsað̞o]. paso is at rank #343, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaso].

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 569, this pair ranks #323,252 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pasado vs paso

Shared letters: aops. Private to "pasado": d. Private to "paso": -.

"pasado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "paso" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasadoapsado · paasdo · pasaddo · pasaod · pasdao · passado · ppasado · psaado
  • pasoapso · paos · passo · ppaso · psao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasado" and "paso" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈsað̞o] versus [ˈpaso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pasado" or "paso"?
"pasado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #226 in our Spanish list, against #343 for "paso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list