Which to use
“past” and “pato” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,081
- “past” frequency rank
- #6,330
- “pato” frequency rank
- 26411
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | past | pato |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | passado | empatado |
Where the eye mixes past and pato
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: past vs pato
A purely visual mix-up. past (/pɑːst/) and pato (/ˈpa.tʊ/) 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 26411, 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/. pato is at rank #6,330, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpa.tʊ/.
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 26411, this pair ranks #42,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of past vs pato
Shared letters: apt. Private to "past": s. Private to "pato": o.
"past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "past" and "pato" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "past" vs "pato" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "past" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "past" and "pato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "past vs pastar". 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 #42,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.