passadovspesadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#418
“passado” frequency rank
#3,509
“pesado” frequency rank
3927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature passado pesado
Definition diz-se do evento que não mais ocorre ou da coisa que não mais existe que pesa muito

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
passado
6 ch
pesado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

passado and pesado 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

passado is recorded at frequency rank #418, classified as anadj. pesado is at rank #3,509, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɨ.ˈza.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 3927, this pair ranks #71,143 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of passado vs pesado

Shared letters: adops. Private to "passado": -. Private to "pesado": e.

"passado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "pesado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • passadoapssado · pasado · pasasdo · passaddo · passaod · passdao · ppassado · psasado
  • pesadoepsado · peasdo · pesaddo · pesaod · pesdao · pessado · ppesado · pseado

Frequency comparison

passado#418
pesado#3,509

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "passado" and "pesado" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, 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 "pesado"?
"passado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #418 in our Portuguese list, against #3,509 for "pesado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering passado vs pesado

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