Which to use
“paces” and “phases” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,348
- “paces” frequency rank
- #9,228
- “phases” frequency rank
- 32576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paces | phases |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pace | plural of phase |
Where the eye mixes paces and phases
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. paces runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against phases's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses paces with phases
A purely visual mix-up. paces (/ˈpeɪsɪz/) and phases (/ˈfeɪzɪz/) 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 32576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paces is recorded at frequency rank #23,348, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeɪsɪz/. phases is at rank #9,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfeɪzɪz/.
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 32576, this pair ranks #336,618 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paces vs phases
Shared letters: aeps. Private to "paces": c. Private to "phases": h.
"paces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "phases" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "paces" and "phases" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "paces" or "phases"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "paces" and "phases" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "paces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #336,618 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paces" and "phases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paces vs pecs". 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 #336,618 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.