Which to use
“pass” is a verb and “past” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,155
- “pass” frequency rank
- #38,289
- “past” frequency rank
- 58444
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pass | past |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pasar. | Pasado, que ocurrió en el pasado. |
Where the eye mixes pass and past
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pass vs past
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pass is /pɑːs/ while past is /pɑːst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “pass” becomes t in “past”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58444, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pass is recorded at frequency rank #20,155, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːs/. past is at rank #38,289, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɑːst/.
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 58444, this pair ranks #66,410 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pass vs past
Shared letters: aps. Private to "pass": -. Private to "past": t.
"pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "past" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pass" and "past" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pass" vs "past" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "past" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,410 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pass" and "past" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pa'l vs past". 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 #66,410 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.