Which to use
“pasados” is a participle and “pavadas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,096
- “pasados” frequency rank
- #33,266
- “pavadas” frequency rank
- 39362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pasados | pavadas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de pasado, participio de pasar. | Forma del plural de pavada. |
Where the eye mixes pasados and pavadas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pasados and pavadas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between pasados and pavadas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pasados is [paˈsað̞os] while pavadas is [paˈβ̞að̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pasados is recorded at frequency rank #6,096, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [paˈsað̞os]. pavadas is at rank #33,266, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈβ̞að̞as].
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 39362, this pair ranks #164,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pasados vs pavadas
Shared letters: adps. Private to "pasados": o. Private to "pavadas": v.
"pasados" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "pavadas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pasados" and "pavadas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pasados" or "pavadas" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pasados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pavadas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pasados" and "pavadas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pavadas vs peladas". 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 #164,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.