sobrepasanvssobrepasarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,261
“sobrepasan” frequency rank
#23,235
“sobrepasar” frequency rank
58496
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobrepasan sobrepasar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sobrepasar. Pasar más allá de un límite o de cierta cantidad; exceder una expectativa.

Where the eye mixes sobrepasan and sobrepasar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. sobrepasan and sobrepasar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
sobrepasan
10 ch
sobrepasar

Why the eye confuses sobrepasan with sobrepasar

A purely visual mix-up. sobrepasan ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn]) and sobrepasar ([soβ̞ɾepaˈsaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “sobrepasan” becomes r in “sobrepasar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58496, 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]. sobrepasar is at rank #23,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [soβ̞ɾepaˈsaɾ].

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 58496, this pair ranks #66,236 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sobrepasan vs sobrepasar

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

"sobrepasan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "sobrepasar" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobrepasan ← osbrepasan · sborepasan · sobbrepasan · soberpasan · sobreapsan · sobrepaasn · sobrepasann · sobrepasna
  • sobrepasar ← osbrepasar · sborepasar · sobbrepasar · soberpasar · sobreapsar · sobrepaasr · sobrepasarr · sobrepasra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sobrepasan" for "sobrepasar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([soβ̞ɾeˈpasãn] versus [soβ̞ɾepaˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sobrepasan" or "sobrepasar" show up more?
"sobrepasar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,235 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrepasan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrepasar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,236 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobrepasan" and "sobrepasar" 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 #66,236 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