Which to use
“paso” is a noun and “pío” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #343
- “paso” frequency rank
- #12,038
- “pío” frequency rank
- 12381
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paso | pío |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cada uno de los movimientos de avance de las piernas al caminar. | Devoto, inclinado a la piedad, dado al culto de la religión y a las cosas pertenecientes al servicio de Dios y de los santos. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set paso and pío apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
paso and pío form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paso is recorded at frequency rank #343, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaso]. pío is at rank #12,038, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpio].
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 12381, this pair ranks #291,752 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "paso" and "pío" be used interchangeably?
Remembering paso vs pío
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “paso”; for an adjective, it's “pío”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “paso” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable