sobrepasanvssobrepasandoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,261
“sobrepasan” frequency rank
#49,276
“sobrepasando” frequency rank
84537
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobrepasan sobrepasando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sobrepasar. Gerundio de sobrepasar.

Where the eye mixes sobrepasan and sobrepasando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. sobrepasan runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCVC) against sobrepasando's 12 (CVCCVCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
sobrepasan
12 ch
sobrepasando

Visual trap between sobrepasan and sobrepasando

A purely visual mix-up. sobrepasan ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn]) and sobrepasando ([soβ̞ɾepaˈsãn̪d̪o]) 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 extra letter(s) - “sobrepasan” sits inside “sobrepasando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sobrepasan is recorded at frequency rank #35,261, classified as averb, pronounced [soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn]. sobrepasando is at rank #49,276, tagged as averb, pronounced [soβ̞ɾepaˈsãn̪d̪o].

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 84537, this pair ranks #6,971 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sobrepasan vs sobrepasando

Shared letters: abenoprs. Private to "sobrepasan": -. Private to "sobrepasando": d.

"sobrepasan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "sobrepasando" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobrepasan ← osbrepasan · sborepasan · sobbrepasan · soberpasan · sobreapsan · sobrepaasn · sobrepasann · sobrepasna
  • sobrepasando ← osbrepasando · sborepasando · sobbrepasando · soberpasando · sobreapsando · sobrepaasndo · sobrepasadno · sobrepasanddo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sobrepasan" and "sobrepasando" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn] versus [soβ̞ɾepaˈsãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sobrepasan" vs "sobrepasando" - which ranks higher?
"sobrepasan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,261 in our Spanish list, against #49,276 for "sobrepasando". 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 "sobrepasan" and "sobrepasando" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrepasan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrepasando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,971 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobrepasan" and "sobrepasando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sobrepasado 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 #6,971 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