Which to use
“pagar” and “passar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #809
- “pagar” frequency rank
- #380
- “passar” frequency rank
- 1189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pagar | passar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | remunerar | percorrer, atravessar |
Where the eye mixes pagar and passar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pagar with passar
A purely visual mix-up. pagar (/pɐ.ˈɡaɾ/) and passar (/pɐ.ˈsaɾ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pagar is recorded at frequency rank #809, classified as averb, pronounced /pɐ.ˈɡaɾ/. passar is at rank #380, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɐ.ˈsaɾ/.
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 1189, this pair ranks #74,405 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pagar vs passar
Shared letters: apr. Private to "pagar": g. Private to "passar": s.
"pagar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "passar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pagar" and "passar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pagar" vs "passar" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pagar" and "passar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pagar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "passar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,405 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pagar" and "passar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pagar vs pastar". 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 #74,405 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.