Which to use
“gastar” and “gostar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,564
- “gastar” frequency rank
- #1,888
- “gostar” frequency rank
- 5452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gastar | gostar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | despender | achar agradável |
Where the eye mixes gastar and gostar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gastar and gostar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gastar with gostar
A purely visual mix-up. gastar (/ɡɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and gostar (/ɡuʃ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 - a in “gastar” becomes o in “gostar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gastar is recorded at frequency rank #3,564, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/. gostar is at rank #1,888, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡuʃ.ˈtaɾ/.
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 5452, this pair ranks #69,162 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gastar vs gostar
Shared letters: agrst. Private to "gastar": -. Private to "gostar": o.
"gastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "gostar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gastar" and "gostar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gastar" or "gostar"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gastar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gostar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,162 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gastar" and "gostar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gostar vs gotta". 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 #69,162 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.