pasará vs pícara, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,274
“pasará” frequency rank: #46,151
“pícara” frequency rank: 50425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	pasará	pícara
Definition	Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de pasar.	Forma del femenino singular de pícaro.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

pasará

6 ch

pícara

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pasará is [pasaˈɾa] while pícara is [ˈpikaɾa]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50425, 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]. pícara is at rank #46,151, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpikaɾa].

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 50425, this pair ranks #103,275 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pasará vs pícara

Shared letters: apr. Private to "pasará": sá. Private to "pícara": cí.

"pasará" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "pícara" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

pasará#4,274

pícara#46,151

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasará" and "pícara" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pasará" is a verb and "pícara" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "pasará" or "pícara"?

"pasará" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,274 in our Spanish list, against #46,151 for "pícara". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pasará vs pícara

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pasará”; for an adjective, it's “pícara”.
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