past vs Pis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#23,262
“past” frequency rank: #38,949
“Pis” frequency rank: 62211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	past	Pis
Definition	Vergangenheit, Vorleben	Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Pi

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set past and Pis apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

past

3 ch

Pis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. past ([pɑːst]) and Pis ([piːs]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

past is recorded at frequency rank #23,262, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɑːst]. Pis is at rank #38,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piːs].

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 62211, this pair ranks #721,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of past vs Pis

Shared letters: ps. Private to "past": at. Private to "Pis": i.

"past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Pis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

past ← apst · pastt · pats · psat

Frequency comparison

past#23,262

Pis#38,949

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "past" and "Pis" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([pɑːst] versus [piːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "past" or "Pis"?

"past" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,262 in our German list, against #38,949 for "Pis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering past vs Pis

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 “past” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable