pastarvspastoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pastar is a verb, pasto is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pastar” is a verb and “pasto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,580
“pastar” frequency rank
#23,436
“pasto” frequency rank
72016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pastar pasto
Definition comer a erva de ato de pastar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pastar and pasto apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pastar
5 ch
pasto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pastar is /pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/ while pasto is /ˈpaʃ.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pastar is recorded at frequency rank #48,580, classified as averb, pronounced /pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/. pasto is at rank #23,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpaʃ.tu/.

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 72016, this pair ranks #3,184 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pastar vs pasto

Shared letters: apst. Private to "pastar": r. Private to "pasto": o.

"pastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pasto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pastarapstar · pasatr · passtar · pastarr · pastra · pasttar · patsar · ppastar
  • pastoapsto · pasot · passto · pastto · patso · ppasto · psato

Frequency comparison

pastar#48,580
pasto#23,436

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pastar" and "pasto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pastar" is a verb and "pasto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pastar" or "pasto"?
"pasto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,436 in our Portuguese list, against #48,580 for "pastar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pastar vs pasto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pastar”; for a noun, it's “pasto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pastar” 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