pastasvspestesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,200
“pastas” frequency rank
#33,769
“pestes” frequency rank
52969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pastas pestes
Definition Forma del plural de pasta. Forma del plural de peste.

Where the eye mixes pastas and pestes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pastas and pestes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
pastas
6 ch
pestes

Look-alike desk: pastas vs pestes

A purely visual mix-up. pastas ([ˈpast̪as]) and pestes ([ˈpest̪es]) 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 52969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pastas is recorded at frequency rank #19,200, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpast̪as]. pestes is at rank #33,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpest̪es].

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 52969, this pair ranks #90,196 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pastas vs pestes

Shared letters: pst. Private to "pastas": a. Private to "pestes": e.

"pastas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pestes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pastas ← apstas · pasats · passtas · pastass · pastsa · pasttas · patsas · ppastas
  • pestes ← epstes · pesets · pesstes · pestess · pestse · pesttes · petses · ppestes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pastas" and "pestes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpast̪as] versus [ˈpest̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pastas" or "pestes"?
"pastas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,200 in our Spanish list, against #33,769 for "pestes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pastas" and "pestes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pastas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pestes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #90,196 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pastas" and "pestes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peines vs pestes". 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 #90,196 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