Which to use
“pass” is a verb and “pues” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,155
- “pass” frequency rank
- #170
- “pues” frequency rank
- 20325
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pass | pues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pasar. | Partícula que sirve en la oración de nota de quien se resuelve alguna cosa o se afirma sobre lo que discurre o va a discurrir. Regularmente se pospone en este sentido a la primera palabra de la oración.. |
Where the eye mixes pass and pues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pass and pues
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pass is /pɑːs/ while pues is [ˈpwes]. 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 conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pass is recorded at frequency rank #20,155, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːs/. pues is at rank #170, tagged as aconj, pronounced [ˈpwes].
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 20325, this pair ranks #259,821 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pass vs pues
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pass": a. Private to "pues": eu.
"pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pass" and "pues" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pass" or "pues" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,821 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pass" and "pues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pa'l vs pass". 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 #259,821 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.