passadovspensadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#418
“passado” frequency rank
#6,459
“pensado” frequency rank
6877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature passado pensado
Definition diz-se do evento que não mais ocorre ou da coisa que não mais existe cogitado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set passado and pensado apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
passado
7 ch
pensado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

passado and pensado are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

passado is recorded at frequency rank #418, classified as anadj. pensado is at rank #6,459, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pẽ.ˈsa.du/.

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 6877, this pair ranks #67,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of passado vs pensado

Shared letters: adops. Private to "passado": -. Private to "pensado": en.

"passado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "pensado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • passadoapssado · pasado · pasasdo · passaddo · passaod · passdao · ppassado · psasado
  • pensadoepnsado · penasdo · pennsado · pensaddo · pensaod · pensdao · penssado · pesnado

Frequency comparison

passado#418
pensado#6,459

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "passado" and "pensado" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "passado" or "pensado"?
"passado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #418 in our Portuguese list, against #6,459 for "pensado". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering passado vs pensado

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 “passado” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list