Which to use
“parted” and “passed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,296
- “parted” frequency rank
- #1,281
- “passed” frequency rank
- 17577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parted | passed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of part | simple past and past participle of pass |
Where the eye mixes parted and passed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses parted with passed
A purely visual mix-up. parted (/ˈpɑɹtɪd/) and passed (/pɑːst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parted is recorded at frequency rank #16,296, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpɑɹtɪd/. passed is at rank #1,281, tagged as averb, 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 17577, this pair ranks #450,488 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of parted vs passed
Shared letters: adep. Private to "parted": rt. Private to "passed": s.
"parted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "passed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "parted" and "passed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "parted" or "passed"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "parted" and "passed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "parted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "passed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #450,488 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parted" and "passed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parley vs parted". 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 #450,488 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.