pas

\pa\

/\pa\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“pas” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #15) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#15
frequency rank, French
248,534
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mouvement que fait une personne ou un animal en mettant un pied devant l’autre pour marcher.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pas · pas · French

pas · rank #15 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #15
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 248,534
  • PHOTO-FINISH A

Nearest frequency peer: A (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “pas”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “pas” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pas vs pu
33% similar
pas vs PS
0% similar
pas vs PQ
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for pas
PropertyValue
Headwordpas
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pa\
Letters3
Frequency rank#15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pas” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). pas lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for pas is neighbouring look-alikes ("pu", "PS", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \pa\. Frequency #15 among 248,534 “P” headwords. 16 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

pas doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pu", "PS", "PQ", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is pas, spelled P-A-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mouvement que fait une personne ou un animal en mettant un pied devant l’autre pour marcher.
  2. 2
    Distance entre deux pas ; enjambée.
  3. 3
    Faible distance.
  4. 4
    Différentes manières de marcher réglées pour les troupes.
  5. 5
    Différentes manières d’exécuter le mouvement de la danse.
  6. 6
    Allure la moins rapide du cheval.
  7. 7
    Empreinte, marque que laisse le pied d’une personne ou d’un animal.
  8. 8
    Préséance, droit de marcher le premier.
  9. 9
    Passage étroit ou passe difficile dans une vallée, dans une montagne, etc.
  10. 10
    Seuil, marches qui sont au-devant d’une entrée.
  11. 11
    Allées et venues, démarches que l’on fait, peines qu’on prend pour réussir.
  12. 12
    Distance séparant deux filets d’un filetage.
  13. 13
    Écart entre les axes d’éléments graphiques homologues d’un ensemble graphique de structure régulière ; il est souvent exprimé numériquement par l’inverse de son rapport à l’unité de longueur.
  14. 14
    Distance séparant deux lignes d’interconnexion voisines dans un circuit intégré ou sur un circuit imprimé nu.
  15. 15
    Distance entre deux broches de raccordement contiguës sur un boîtier.
  16. 16
    Entaille faite dans une sablière pour y encastrer partiellement un chevron.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how pas appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Il contemplait […] les scarabées qui couraient sur le sable chaud et s’arrêtaient tout net à l’approche de son pas.
  2. Le seul recours contre le temps est de le mesurer à ce double pas, comme ceux qui ont affaire personnellement à lui, les sentinelles, les officiers de quart.

Synonyms

enjambéerythmegraduation

This word in other languages

step(English)paso(Español)Schritt(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pas"?
"pas" is spelled P-A-S. The IPA pronunciation is \pa\.
What does "pas" mean?
As a noun, "pas" means: Mouvement que fait une personne ou un animal en mettant un pied devant l’autre pour marcher.
What words are commonly confused with "pas"?
"pas" is commonly confused with "pu", "PS", "PQ". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pas"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pas" is \pa\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pas" come from?
"pas" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pas", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

une#16que#13des#10Est#8
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list