Which to use
“part” and “past” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #162
- “part” frequency rank
- #437
- “past” frequency rank
- 599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | part | past |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A portion; a component. | The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future. |
Where the eye mixes part and past
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. part (/pɑːt/) and past (/pɑːst/) 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 a single letter - r in “part” becomes s in “past”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
part is recorded at frequency rank #162, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑːt/. past is at rank #437, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɑːst/.
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 599, this pair ranks #529,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of part vs past
Shared letters: apt. Private to "part": r. Private to "past": s.
"part" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC