Which to use
“phage” and “phase” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,841
- “phage” frequency rank
- #2,306
- “phase” frequency rank
- 46147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | phage | phase |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A virus that is parasitic on bacteria. | A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time. |
Where the eye mixes phage and phase
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between phage and phase
A purely visual mix-up. phage (/feɪd͡ʒ/) and phase (/feɪz/) 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 - g in “phage” becomes s in “phase”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
phage is recorded at frequency rank #43,841, classified as anoun, pronounced /feɪd͡ʒ/. phase is at rank #2,306, tagged as anoun, pronounced /feɪz/.
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 46147, this pair ranks #214,498 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of phage vs phase
Shared letters: aehp. Private to "phage": g. Private to "phase": s.
"phage" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "phase" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "phage" for "phase" ever safe?
Which is more common, "phage" or "phase"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "phage" and "phase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "phage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #214,498 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "phage" and "phase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pape vs phage". 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 #214,498 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.