Which to use
“passage” and “présage” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #744
- “passage” frequency rank
- #23,659
- “présage” frequency rank
- 24403
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passage | présage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de passer. | Augure, signe par lequel on juge de l’avenir. |
Where the eye mixes passage and présage
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. passage (CVCCVCV) and présage (CCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses passage with présage
A purely visual mix-up. passage (\pɑ.saʒ\) and présage (\pʁe.zaʒ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passage is recorded at frequency rank #744, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɑ.saʒ\. présage is at rank #23,659, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.zaʒ\.
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 24403, this pair ranks #346,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of passage vs présage
Shared letters: aegps. Private to "passage": -. Private to "présage": ré.
"passage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "présage" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- passage ← apssage · pasage · pasasge · passaeg · passagge · passgae · ppassage · psasage
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passage" and "présage" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "passage" vs "présage" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "passage" and "présage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "passage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "présage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #346,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passage" and "présage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prepare vs présage". 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 #346,803 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.