pasanvsposaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,692
“pasan” frequency rank
#25,406
“posa” frequency rank
27098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasan posa
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pasar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de posar.

Where the eye mixes pasan and posa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
pasan
4 ch
posa

Look-alike desk: pasan vs posa

A purely visual mix-up. pasan ([ˈpasãn]) and posa ([ˈposa]) 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 27098, 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]. posa is at rank #25,406, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈposa].

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 27098, this pair ranks #228,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pasan vs posa

Shared letters: aps. Private to "pasan": n. Private to "posa": o.

"pasan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "posa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasanapsan · paasn · pasann · pasna · passan · ppasan · psaan
  • posaopsa · poas · possa · pposa · psoa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasan" and "posa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpasãn] versus [ˈposa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pasan" or "posa"?
"pasan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,692 in our Spanish list, against #25,406 for "posa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "posa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasan" and "posa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pom vs posa". 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 #228,463 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