Which to use
“past” is an adjective and “pastar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,081
- “past” frequency rank
- #48,580
- “pastar” frequency rank
- 68661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | past | pastar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | passado | comer a erva de |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set past and pastar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: past is /pɑːst/ while pastar is /pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “past” sits inside “pastar”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
past is recorded at frequency rank #20,081, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɑːst/. 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 68661, this pair ranks #4,206 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of past vs pastar
Shared letters: apst. Private to "past": -. Private to "pastar": r.
"past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "past" and "pastar" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "past" or "pastar"?
Remembering past vs pastar
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “past”; for a verb, it's “pastar”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “past” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable