pasitovspatoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pasito” and “pato” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,829
“pasito” frequency rank
#7,894
“pato” frequency rank
27723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasito pato
Definition Diminutivo de paso Ave palmípeda del orden de las anseriformes, que se encuentra en estado silvestre y es domesticada para aprovechar sus huevos, plumas y carne.

Where the eye mixes pasito and pato

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

6 ch
pasito
4 ch
pato

Visual trap between pasito and pato

A purely visual mix-up. pasito ([paˈsit̪o]) and pato ([ˈpat̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasito is recorded at frequency rank #19,829, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈsit̪o]. pato is at rank #7,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪o].

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 27723, this pair ranks #225,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pasito vs pato

Shared letters: aopt. Private to "pasito": is. Private to "pato": -.

"pasito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pasitoapsito · pacito · paisto · pasiot · pasitto · passito · pastio · ppasito
  • patopaot · patto · ppato · ptao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pasito" for "pato" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paˈsit̪o] versus [ˈpat̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pasito" vs "pato" - which ranks higher?
"pato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,894 in our Spanish list, against #19,829 for "pasito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pasito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pasito" and "pato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pajita vs pasito". 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 #225,441 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