pasvspecTell them apart

Which to use

“pas” and “pec” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,210
“pas” frequency rank
#47,251
“pec” frequency rank
60461
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pas pec
Definition The right of going foremost; precedence. The pectoralis major muscle.

Letter map: pas vs pec

Shared letters muted; letters that set pas and pec apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
pas
3 ch
pec

Pair insight - pas / pec

pas and pec are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pas is recorded at frequency rank #13,210, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑː/. pec is at rank #47,251, tagged as anoun.

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 60461, this pair ranks #100,075 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pas vs pec

Shared letters: p. Private to "pas": as. Private to "pec": ce.

"pas" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pec" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pas" and "pec" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "pas" vs "pec" - which ranks higher?
"pas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,210 in our English list, against #47,251 for "pec". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "pas" vs "pec" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pec" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #100,075 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pas" and "pec" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pec vs PPA". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #100,075 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list