pastsvsPittsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pasts is a noun, Pitts is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pasts” is a noun and “Pitts” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,990
“pasts” frequency rank
#33,365
“Pitts” frequency rank
78355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pasts Pitts
Definition plural of past A surname.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pasts and Pitts apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pasts
5 ch
Pitts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pasts is /pɑːsts/ while Pitts is /pɪts/. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pasts is recorded at frequency rank #44,990, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑːsts/. Pitts is at rank #33,365, tagged as aname, pronounced /pɪts/.

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 78355, this pair ranks #24,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pasts vs Pitts

Shared letters: pst. Private to "pasts": a. Private to "Pitts": i.

"pasts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Pitts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pastsapsts · passts · pastss · pastts · ppasts · psats
  • Pittsiptts · pitst · pittss · ppitts · ptits

Frequency comparison

pasts#44,990
Pitts#33,365

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pasts" and "Pitts" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pasts" is a noun and "Pitts" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pasts" or "Pitts"?
"Pitts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,365 in our English list, against #44,990 for "pasts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pasts vs Pitts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pasts”; for a name, it's “Pitts”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pasts” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list