passéesvspousséesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,057
“passées” frequency rank
#16,705
“poussées” frequency rank
21762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature passées poussées
Definition Féminin pluriel de passé. Féminin pluriel de poussé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
passées
8 ch
poussées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. passées (\pa.se\) and poussées (\pu.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 21762, 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\. poussées is at rank #16,705, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pu.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 21762, this pair ranks #361,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of passées vs poussées

Shared letters: epsé. Private to "passées": a. Private to "poussées": ou.

"passées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "poussées" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

passées#5,057
poussées#16,705

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "passées" and "poussées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pa.se\ versus \pu.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "passées" or "poussées"?
"passées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,057 in our French list, against #16,705 for "poussées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering passées vs poussées

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