pasanvspasarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,692
“pasan” frequency rank
#381
“pasar” frequency rank
2073
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasan pasar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pasar. Llevar de un lugar a otro.

Where the eye mixes pasan and pasar

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

5 ch
pasan
5 ch
pasar

Why the eye confuses pasan with pasar

A purely visual mix-up. pasan ([ˈpasãn]) and pasar ([paˈsaɾ]) 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 - n in “pasan” becomes r in “pasar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasan is recorded at frequency rank #1,692, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpasãn]. pasar is at rank #381, tagged as averb, pronounced [paˈsaɾ].

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 2073, this pair ranks #321,023 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pasan vs pasar

Shared letters: aps. Private to "pasan": n. Private to "pasar": r.

"pasan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pasar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasanapsan · paasn · pasann · pasna · passan · ppasan · psaan
  • pasarapsar · paasr · pasarr · pasra · passar · ppasar · psaar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pasan" for "pasar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpasãn] versus [paˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pasan" or "pasar"?
"pasar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #381 in our Spanish list, against #1,692 for "pasan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pasan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pasar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #321,023 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasan" and "pasar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasan vs pelan". 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 #321,023 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