Which to use
“Passau” is a name and “Passes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,917
- “Passau” frequency rank
- #43,401
- “Passes” frequency rank
- 52318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Passau | Passes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | kreisfreie Stadt in Bayern | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Pass |
Where the eye mixes Passau and Passes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Passau vs Passes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Passau is [ˈpasaʊ̯] while Passes is [ˈpasəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Passau is recorded at frequency rank #8,917, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈpasaʊ̯]. 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 52318, this pair ranks #1,101,443 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Passau vs Passes
Shared letters: aps. Private to "Passau": u. Private to "Passes": e.
"Passau" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "Passes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Passau" for "Passes" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Passau" or "Passes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Passau" and "Passes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Passau" 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 #1,101,443 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Passau" 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 #1,101,443 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.