Which to use
“pass” and “puts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #952
- “pass” frequency rank
- #2,852
- “puts” frequency rank
- 3804
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pass | puts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To change place. | third-person singular simple present indicative of put |
Where the eye mixes pass and puts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. pass (/pɑːs/) and puts (/pʊts/) 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 3804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pass is recorded at frequency rank #952, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːs/. puts is at rank #2,852, tagged as averb, pronounced /pʊts/.
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 3804, this pair ranks #520,936 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pass vs puts
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pass": a. Private to "puts": tu.
"pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "puts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC