pasarávspatataWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pasará is a verb, patata is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pasará” is a verb and “patata” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,274
“pasará” frequency rank
#16,664
“patata” frequency rank
20938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasará patata
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de pasar. (Solanum tuberosum) Planta herbácea, caducifolia, de la familia de las solanáceas, de tallo erecto o decumbente de hasta 1 m de largo, hojas imparipinnadas, de foliolos lanceolados, pilosas, y flores en inflorescencias terminales racemosas, de pétalos fusionados de color blanco a púrpura, que fructifican en pequeñas bayas. Se la aprecia por los tubérculos que produce su sistema radical, muy usados en gastronomía.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pasará and patata apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pasará
6 ch
patata

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pasará is [pasaˈɾa] while patata is [paˈt̪at̪a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasará is recorded at frequency rank #4,274, classified as averb, pronounced [pasaˈɾa]. patata is at rank #16,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈt̪at̪a].

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 20938, this pair ranks #257,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pasará vs patata

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pasará": rsá. Private to "patata": t.

"pasará" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "patata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patataaptata · paatta · pataat · patatta · pattaa · pattata · ppatata · ptaata

Frequency comparison

pasará#4,274
patata#16,664

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasará" and "patata" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pasará" is a verb and "patata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pasará" or "patata"?
"pasará" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,274 in our Spanish list, against #16,664 for "patata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pasará vs patata

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pasará”; for a noun, it's “patata”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pasará” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list