Which to use
“passes” and “phases” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,321
- “passes” frequency rank
- #9,228
- “phases” frequency rank
- 12549
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passes | phases |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pass | plural of phase |
Where the eye mixes passes and phases
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between passes and phases
A purely visual mix-up. passes (/ˈpɑːsɪz/) and phases (/ˈfeɪzɪz/) 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 12549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passes is recorded at frequency rank #3,321, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑːsɪz/. phases is at rank #9,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfeɪzɪz/.
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 12549, this pair ranks #480,922 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passes vs phases
Shared letters: aeps. Private to "passes": -. Private to "phases": h.
"passes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "phases" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "passes" for "phases" ever safe?
Frequency check: "passes" vs "phases" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "passes" and "phases" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "passes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #480,922 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passes" and "phases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasts vs phases". 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 #480,922 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.