pastarvspiscarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pastar” and “piscar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,580
“pastar” frequency rank
#15,179
“piscar” frequency rank
63759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pastar piscar
Definition comer a erva de ação de fechar e abrir rapidamente os olhos

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pastar
6 ch
piscar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pastar (/pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and piscar (/pisˈka(ʁ)/ [pisˈka(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 63759, 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/. piscar is at rank #15,179, tagged as averb, pronounced /pisˈka(ʁ)/ [pisˈka(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 63759, this pair ranks #6,059 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pastar vs piscar

Shared letters: aprs. Private to "pastar": t. Private to "piscar": ci.

"pastar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "piscar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pastarapstar · pasatr · passtar · pastarr · pastra · pasttar · patsar · ppastar
  • piscaripscar · picsar · pisacr · piscarr · pisccar · piscra · pisscar · ppiscar

Frequency comparison

pastar#48,580
piscar#15,179

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pastar" and "piscar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɐʃ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /pisˈka(ʁ)/ [pisˈka(h)]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pastar" or "piscar"?
"piscar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,179 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 piscar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list