Which to use
“pasen” and “patea” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,817
- “pasen” frequency rank
- #33,758
- “patea” frequency rank
- 38575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pasen | patea |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de pasar. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de patear. |
Where the eye mixes pasen and patea
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pasen with patea
A purely visual mix-up. pasen ([ˈpasẽn]) and patea ([paˈt̪ea]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pasen is recorded at frequency rank #4,817, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpasẽn]. patea is at rank #33,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [paˈt̪ea].
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 38575, this pair ranks #169,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pasen vs patea
Shared letters: aep. Private to "pasen": ns. Private to "patea": t.
"pasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "patea" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pasen" and "patea" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pasen" or "patea" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pasen" and "patea" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pasen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patea" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #169,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pasen" and "patea" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parca vs patea". 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 #169,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.