Which to use
“pastar” and “pescar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,580
- “pastar” frequency rank
- #15,884
- “pescar” frequency rank
- 64464
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pastar | pescar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | comer a erva de | apanhar na água (o peixe ou outro animal aquático) |
Where the eye mixes pastar and pescar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pastar and pescar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: pastar vs pescar
A purely visual mix-up. pastar (/pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 64464, 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/. 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 64464, this pair ranks #5,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pastar vs pescar
Shared letters: aprs. Private to "pastar": t. Private to "pescar": ce.
"pastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pescar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pastar" and "pescar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pastar" vs "pescar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pastar" 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 #5,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pastar" and "pescar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs pasteur". 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 #5,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.