pagar vs pastar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“pagar” and “pastar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#809
“pagar” frequency rank: #48,580
“pastar” frequency rank: 49389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	pagar	pastar
Definition	remunerar	comer a erva de

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pagar and pastar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

pagar

6 ch

pastar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pagar (/pɐ.ˈɡaɾ/) and pastar (/pɐʃ.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49389, 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/. pastar is at rank #48,580, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɐʃ.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 49389, this pair ranks #15,628 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pagar vs pastar

Shared letters: apr. Private to "pagar": g. Private to "pastar": st.

"pagar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

pagar ← apgar · paagr · pagarr · paggar · pagra · pgaar · ppagar
pastar ← apstar · pasatr · passtar · pastarr · pastra · pasttar · patsar · ppastar

Frequency comparison

pagar#809

pastar#48,580

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pagar" and "pastar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/pɐ.ˈɡaɾ/ versus /pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "pagar" or "pastar"?

"pagar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #809 in our Portuguese list, against #48,580 for "pastar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pagar vs pastar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pagar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable