sobrepasavssobrepasanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,167
“sobrepasa” frequency rank
#35,261
“sobrepasan” frequency rank
56428
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobrepasa sobrepasan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sobrepasar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sobrepasar.

Where the eye mixes sobrepasa and sobrepasan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. sobrepasa runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against sobrepasan's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
sobrepasa
10 ch
sobrepasan

Why the eye confuses sobrepasa with sobrepasan

A purely visual mix-up. sobrepasa ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasa]) and sobrepasan ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “sobrepasa” sits inside “sobrepasan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56428, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sobrepasa is recorded at frequency rank #21,167, classified as averb, pronounced [soβ̞ɾeˈpasa]. sobrepasan is at rank #35,261, tagged as averb, pronounced [soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn].

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 56428, this pair ranks #74,641 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sobrepasa vs sobrepasan

Shared letters: abeoprs. Private to "sobrepasa": -. Private to "sobrepasan": n.

"sobrepasa" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "sobrepasan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobrepasa ← osbrepasa · sborepasa · sobbrepasa · soberpasa · sobreapsa · sobrepaas · sobrepassa · sobreppasa
  • sobrepasan ← osbrepasan · sborepasan · sobbrepasan · soberpasan · sobreapsan · sobrepaasn · sobrepasann · sobrepasna

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sobrepasa" and "sobrepasan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasa] versus [soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sobrepasa" or "sobrepasan" show up more?
"sobrepasa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,167 in our Spanish list, against #35,261 for "sobrepasan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrepasa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrepasan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,641 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobrepasa" and "sobrepasan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sobrepasan vs sobrepasando". 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 #74,641 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