Which to use
“passing” is a verb and “passion” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,362
- “passing” frequency rank
- #3,382
- “passion” frequency rank
- 5744
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passing | passion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of pass | A true desire sustained or prolonged. |
Where the eye mixes passing and passion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. passing (CVCCVCC) and passion (CVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: passing vs passion
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: passing is /ˈpɑːsɪŋ/ while passion is /ˈpæʃən/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passing is recorded at frequency rank #2,362, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpɑːsɪŋ/. passion is at rank #3,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæʃən/.
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 5744, this pair ranks #514,154 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passing vs passion
Shared letters: ainps. Private to "passing": g. Private to "passion": o.
"passing" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "passion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "passing" and "passion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "passing" or "passion"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "passion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #514,154 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passing" and "passion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "panning vs passing". 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 #514,154 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.