Which to use
“passées” and “pressées” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,057
- “passées” frequency rank
- #44,109
- “pressées” frequency rank
- 49166
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passées | pressées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de passé. | Féminin pluriel de pressé. |
Where the eye mixes passées and pressées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses passées with pressées
A purely visual mix-up. passées (\pa.se\) and pressées (\pʁe.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 49166, 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\. pressées is at rank #44,109, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.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 49166, this pair ranks #172,916 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of passées vs pressées
Shared letters: epsé. Private to "passées": a. Private to "pressées": r.
"passées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "pressées" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "passées" for "pressées" ever safe?
Frequency check: "passées" vs "pressées" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pressées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,916 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passées" and "pressées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pressées vs prêtées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #172,916 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.