Which to use
“passeurs” and “pasteurs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,226
- “passeurs” frequency rank
- #22,642
- “pasteurs” frequency rank
- 42868
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passeurs | pasteurs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de passeur. | Pluriel de pasteur. |
Where the eye mixes passeurs and pasteurs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between passeurs and pasteurs
A purely visual mix-up. passeurs (\pa.sœʁ\) and pasteurs (\pas.tœʁ\) 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 a single letter - s in “passeurs” becomes t in “pasteurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42868, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passeurs is recorded at frequency rank #20,226, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.sœʁ\. pasteurs is at rank #22,642, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pas.tœʁ\.
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 42868, this pair ranks #222,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of passeurs vs pasteurs
Shared letters: aeprsu. Private to "passeurs": -. Private to "pasteurs": t.
"passeurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "pasteurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "passeurs" and "pasteurs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "passeurs" or "pasteurs"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passeurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pasteurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #222,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passeurs" and "pasteurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastèques vs pasteurs". 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 #222,306 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.