Which to use
“passed” and “phased” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,281
- “passed” frequency rank
- #18,916
- “phased” frequency rank
- 20197
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passed | phased |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pass | simple past and past participle of phase |
Where the eye mixes passed and phased
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: passed vs phased
A purely visual mix-up. passed (/pɑːst/) and phased (/feɪzd/) 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 20197, 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/. phased is at rank #18,916, tagged as averb, pronounced /feɪzd/.
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 20197, this pair ranks #432,828 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passed vs phased
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "passed": -. Private to "phased": h.
"passed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "phased" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "passed" and "phased" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "passed" or "phased"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phased" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,828 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passed" and "phased" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "phage vs phased". 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 #432,828 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.