Which to use
“past” and “post” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #437
- “past” frequency rank
- #360
- “post” frequency rank
- 797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | past | post |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future. | A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground; a fencepost; a lightpost. |
Where the eye mixes past and post
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. past (/pɑːst/) and post (/pəʊst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “past” becomes o in “post”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
past is recorded at frequency rank #437, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑːst/. post is at rank #360, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pəʊst/.
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 797, this pair ranks #528,763 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of past vs post
Shared letters: pst. Private to "past": a. Private to "post": o.
"past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "post" · 4 letters · shape CVCC