PassvsPassesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Pass” and “Passes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,315
“Pass” frequency rank
#43,401
“Passes” frequency rank
45716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pass Passes
Definition Dokument, das für Auslandsreisen erforderlich ist, falls es zwischen dem Heimatland und dem Zielland keine Sondervereinbarungen gibt; Reisepass Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Pass

Where the eye mixes Pass and Passes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Pass
6 ch
Passes

Look-alike desk: Pass vs Passes

A purely visual mix-up. Pass ([pas]) and Passes ([ˈpasəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Pass” sits inside “Passes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pass is recorded at frequency rank #2,315, classified as anoun, pronounced [pas]. Passes is at rank #43,401, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpasəs].

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 45716, this pair ranks #1,343,603 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pass vs Passes

Shared letters: aps. Private to "Pass": -. Private to "Passes": e.

"Pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Passes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Passapss · paß · ppass · psas
  • Passesapsses · pases · pasess · passess · passse · paßes · ppasses · psases

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pass" and "Passes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pas] versus [ˈpasəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pass" or "Passes"?
"Pass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,315 in our German list, against #43,401 for "Passes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Passes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,343,603 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pass" and "Passes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Passes vs Präses". 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 #1,343,603 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list