Which to use
“was” and “wash” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,582
- “was” frequency rank
- #33,233
- “wash” frequency rank
- 40815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | was | wash |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | primeira pessoa do singular do passado simples do indicativo do verbo "to be" | tirar as impurezas usando-se de água ou outro líquido; lavar |
Letter map: was vs wash
Shared letters muted; letters that set was and wash apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. was runs 3 letters (CVC) against wash's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: was and wash
was and wash are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “was” sits inside “wash”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
was is recorded at frequency rank #7,582, classified as averb, pronounced /wɒz/. wash is at rank #33,233, tagged as averb.
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 40815, this pair ranks #25,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of was vs wash
Shared letters: asw. Private to "was": -. Private to "wash": h.
"was" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "wash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wash ← awsh · wahs · washh · wassh · wsah · wwash
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "was" and "wash" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "was" vs "wash" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "was" and "wash". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "was" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "was" and "wash" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wash vs watt". 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 #25,230 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.