pasatevspésameWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,865
“pasate” frequency rank
#20,484
“pésame” frequency rank
59349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasate pésame
Definition Segunda persona del singular (vos) del imperativo afirmativo de pasarse (con el pronombre «te» enclítico). Expresión con que se manifiesta el sentimiento de pena o aflicción por el fallecimiento de una persona. El pésame se da a los familiares más cercanos del fallecido, muy en particular al cónyuge, hermanos, padres e hijos.

Where the eye mixes pasate and pésame

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

6 ch
pasate
6 ch
pésame

Visual trap between pasate and pésame

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pasate is [paˈsat̪e] while pésame is [ˈpesame]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 59349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasate is recorded at frequency rank #38,865, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈsat̪e]. pésame is at rank #20,484, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpesame].

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 59349, this pair ranks #62,932 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pasate vs pésame

Shared letters: aeps. Private to "pasate": t. Private to "pésame": .

"pasate" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pésame" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasateapsate · paaste · pasaet · pasatte · pastae · ppasate · psaate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pasate" and "pésame" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pasate" is a verb and "pésame" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "pasate" vs "pésame" - which ranks higher?
"pésame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,484 in our Spanish list, against #38,865 for "pasate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pasate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pésame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,932 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasate" and "pésame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasate vs past". 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 #62,932 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