pasanvspasenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,692
“pasan” frequency rank
#4,817
“pasen” frequency rank
6509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasan pasen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pasar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de pasar.

Where the eye mixes pasan and pasen

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

5 ch
pasan
5 ch
pasen

Visual trap between pasan and pasen

A purely visual mix-up. pasan ([ˈpasãn]) and pasen ([ˈpasẽn]) 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 - a in “pasan” becomes e in “pasen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6509, 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]. pasen is at rank #4,817, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpasẽn].

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 6509, this pair ranks #310,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pasan vs pasen

Shared letters: anps. Private to "pasan": -. Private to "pasen": e.

"pasan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasanapsan · paasn · pasann · pasna · passan · ppasan · psaan
  • pasenapsen · pacen · paesn · pasenn · pasne · passen · ppasen · psaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pasan" for "pasen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpasãn] versus [ˈpasẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pasan" vs "pasen" - which ranks higher?
"pasan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,692 in our Spanish list, against #4,817 for "pasen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "pasan" and "pasen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pasan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pasen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasan" and "pasen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasen vs pateo". 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 #310,552 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