Which to use
“passar” and “pescar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #380
- “passar” frequency rank
- #15,884
- “pescar” frequency rank
- 16264
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passar | pescar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | percorrer, atravessar | apanhar na água (o peixe ou outro animal aquático) |
Where the eye mixes passar and pescar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses passar with pescar
A purely visual mix-up. passar (/pɐ.ˈsaɾ/) and pescar (/pesˈka(ʁ)/ [pesˈka(h)]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16264, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passar is recorded at frequency rank #380, classified as averb, pronounced /pɐ.ˈsaɾ/. pescar is at rank #15,884, tagged as averb, pronounced /pesˈka(ʁ)/ [pesˈka(h)].
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 16264, this pair ranks #55,319 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of passar vs pescar
Shared letters: aprs. Private to "passar": -. Private to "pescar": ce.
"passar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pescar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passar" and "pescar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "passar" vs "pescar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pescar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,319 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passar" and "pescar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs pescar". 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 #55,319 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.