passéesvspassésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“passées” and “passés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,057
“passées” frequency rank
#3,556
“passés” frequency rank
8613
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature passées passés
Definition Féminin pluriel de passé. Masculin pluriel de passé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set passées and passés apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
passées
6 ch
passés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. passées and passés are pronounced identically (\pa.se\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

passées is recorded at frequency rank #5,057, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.se\. 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 8613, this pair ranks #419,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of passées vs passés

Shared letters: apsé. Private to "passées": e. Private to "passés": -.

"passées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "passés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

passées#5,057
passés#3,556

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "passées" and "passés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pa.se\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "passées" or "passés"?
"passés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,556 in our French list, against #5,057 for "passées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering passées vs passés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “passées” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list