Which to use
“parés” and “passés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,589
- “parés” frequency rank
- #3,556
- “passés” frequency rank
- 47145
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parés | passés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de paré. | Masculin pluriel de passé. |
Where the eye mixes parés and passés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. parés runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against passés's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses parés with passés
A purely visual mix-up. parés (\pa.ʁe\) and passés (\pa.se\) 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 47145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parés is recorded at frequency rank #43,589, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.ʁe\. passés is at rank #3,556, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pa.se\.
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 47145, this pair ranks #189,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parés vs passés
Shared letters: apsé. Private to "parés": r. Private to "passés": -.
"parés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "passés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "parés" for "passés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "parés" vs "passés" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "parés" and "passés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "parés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "passés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #189,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parés" and "passés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parés vs prep". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #189,219 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.