Which to use
“pass” and “psi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,211
- “pass” frequency rank
- #29,927
- “psi” frequency rank
- 39138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pass | psi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Passe, carte d’abonnement (pour les transports en commun, les musées, etc). | ψ, Ψ, vingt-troisième lettre et dix-septième consonne de l’alphabet grec. |
Where the eye mixes pass and psi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pass and psi
A purely visual mix-up. pass (\pas\) and psi (\psi\) 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 39138, 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\. psi is at rank #29,927, tagged as anoun, pronounced \psi\.
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 39138, this pair ranks #250,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pass vs psi
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pass": a. Private to "psi": i.
"pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "psi" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pass ← apss · ppass · psas
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pass" and "psi" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pass" vs "psi" - 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 "psi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pass" and "psi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs psi". 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 #250,224 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.