pasasvspaysWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pasas is a adjective, pays is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pasas” is an adjective and “pays” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,416
“pasas” frequency rank
#42,064
“pays” frequency rank
47480
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasas pays
Definition Forma del femenino plural de paso. País.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
pasas
4 ch
pays

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pasas is [ˈpasas] while pays is /pɛi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasas is recorded at frequency rank #5,416, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpasas]. pays is at rank #42,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɛi/.

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 47480, this pair ranks #119,829 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pasas vs pays

Shared letters: aps. Private to "pasas": -. Private to "pays": y.

"pasas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasasapsas · paass · pasass · passas · ppasas · psaas
  • paysapys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas

Frequency comparison

pasas#5,416
pays#42,064

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasas" and "pays" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pasas" is an adjective and "pays" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pasas" or "pays"?
"pasas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,416 in our Spanish list, against #42,064 for "pays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pasas vs pays

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pasas”; for a noun, it's “pays”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pasas” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list