Which to use
“pass” and “pis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,211
- “pass” frequency rank
- #3,350
- “pis” frequency rank
- 12561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pass | pis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Passe, carte d’abonnement (pour les transports en commun, les musées, etc). | Mamelle de bête laitière (vache, brebis, etc.). |
Where the eye mixes pass and pis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pass with pis
A purely visual mix-up. pass (\pas\) and pis (\pi\) 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 12561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pass is recorded at frequency rank #9,211, classified as anoun, pronounced \pas\. pis is at rank #3,350, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi\.
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 12561, this pair ranks #404,730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pass vs pis
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pass": a. Private to "pis": i.
"pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pass ← apss · ppass · psas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pass" for "pis" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pass" or "pis"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pass" and "pis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pass" and "pis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pass vs peso". 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 #404,730 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.