pasadovspradoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#226
“pasado” frequency rank
#7,482
“prado” frequency rank
7708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasado prado
Definition Temporada antes del presente. Terreno donde se deja crecer o se siembra la hierba para que paste el ganado.

Where the eye mixes pasado and prado

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

6 ch
pasado
5 ch
prado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pasado ([paˈsað̞o]) and prado ([ˈpɾað̞o]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasado is recorded at frequency rank #226, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈsað̞o]. prado is at rank #7,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɾað̞o].

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 7708, this pair ranks #307,171 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pasado vs prado

Shared letters: adop. Private to "pasado": s. Private to "prado": r.

"pasado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "prado" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasadoapsado · paasdo · pasaddo · pasaod · pasdao · passado · ppasado · psaado
  • pradopprado · praddo · praod · prdao · prrado · rpado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasado" and "prado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈsað̞o] versus [ˈpɾað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pasado" or "prado"?
"pasado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #226 in our Spanish list, against #7,482 for "prado". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list