Which to use
“past” and “posts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #437
- “past” frequency rank
- #2,265
- “posts” frequency rank
- 2702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | past | posts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future. | plural of post |
Where the eye mixes past and posts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between past and posts
A purely visual mix-up. past (/pɑːst/) and posts (/pəʊsts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
past is recorded at frequency rank #437, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑːst/. posts is at rank #2,265, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pəʊsts/.
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 2702, this pair ranks #524,274 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of past vs posts
Shared letters: pst. Private to "past": a. Private to "posts": o.
"past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "posts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "past" and "posts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "past" vs "posts" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "past" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #524,274 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "past" and "posts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poops vs posts". 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 #524,274 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.