Which to use
“passed” is a verb and “past” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,281
- “passed” frequency rank
- #437
- “past” frequency rank
- 1718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passed | past |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pass | The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future. |
Same sound, different letters: passed vs past
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: passed and past carry the same recorded pronunciation, /pɑːst/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passed is recorded at frequency rank #1,281, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːst/. 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 1718, this pair ranks #526,810 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passed vs past
Shared letters: aps. Private to "passed": de. Private to "past": t.
"passed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC