pass for vs pass off vs pass as

Question

Hello Native speaker,Which is natural?He passed for a cheapskate.He passed off as a cheapskate.He passed as a cheapskate.He passes himself for an imbecile on the show. That's what his character is scripted to be like. The script says the character is a imbecile.ps Is this grammatically sound "That's what his character is scripted to be like."

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Which is natural?

He passed for a cheapskate.
He passed off as a cheapskate.
He passed as a cheapskate.
None of these seem natural to me.
I would say 'He passed himself off as cheap'. ( 'Cheapskate' today sounds to me slightly old-fashioned. )
However. pass oneself off usually suggests 'for some inappropriate reason', ie it has a negative sound.
So, I wouldn't use the phrase for what an actor does. I'd say eg 'He portrayed his character as cheap'.

He passes himself for an imbecile on the show. That's what his character is scripted to be like. The script says the character is a imbecile.
ps
Is this grammatically sound "That's what his character is scripted to be like."
Yes, but it's clumsy. Say eg 'That's how his character srcripted'.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Do you mean 'is scripted'?

When do you use 'pass for' like 'he passes for'

People love to pass for a heroes. Is this correct?

Thanks

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Do you mean 'is scripted'? Yes

When do you use 'pass for' like 'he passes for'
eg
He is 15, but he can pass for 20. He is 15, but he can pretend convincingly to be 20. People will easily think he is 20.

People love to pass for a heroes. Is this correct? No, don't use 'a' with a plural noun.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

How should I write the 2 sentences?
People love to pass for heroes. Is this correct? No, don't use 'a' with a plural noun.
I told you not to talk. I was supposed to pass you off as a Spanish person.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

People love to pass for heroes. Is this correct? Yes. But not necessarily true.
I told you not to talk. I was supposed to pass you off as a Spanish person. OK

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi,

I've been searching the internet for answers. I'm not sure when I have to use which.

pass off or pass for

People love to pass for heroes.
People love to pass off as heroes.

I told you not to talk. I was supposed to pass you off as a Spanish person.
I told you not to talk. I was supposed to pass you for a Spanish person.

I'm not where to go with the sentence. Can you take the time to help?

If I don't go to her birthday I'll pass for a *** everyone's eyes.
He purposely passes himself for a *** so people don't like him.

If I don't go to her birthday I'll pass off a *** everyone's eyes.
He purposely passes himself off a *** so people don't like him.

thanku

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I've been searching the internet for answers. I'm not sure when I have to use which.

pass off or pass for

People love to pass for heroes.
People love to pass themselves off as heroes.

I told you not to talk. I was supposed to pass you off as a Spanish person. Yes
I told you not to talk. I was supposed to pass you for a Spanish person. No.
A person does not 'pass another person'. Say eg He has dark eyes and black hair. He can pass for a Spanish person.

The broad idea is this.
eg Tom passed himself off as a Spanish person.. He pretended he was a Spanish person, He tried to trick people.
eg Tom passed for a Spanish person. People accepted him as a Spanish person. People thought he was Spanish. There was no real intention to trick people.

Note that neither of these phrases is very commonly used.
Much, much more common is
eg People love to pretend to be heroes.
eg People love to seem to be heroes.

I'm not where to go with the sentence. Can you take the time to help?

If I don't go to her birthday I'll pass for a *** in everyone's eyes. Unnatural. In such an ordinary context, just say I'll seem like a ****.
He purposely passes himself off as a *** so people don't like him.

If I don't go to her birthday I'll pass for a *** in everyone's eyes.
He purposely passes himself off as a *** so people don't like him.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi
I heard on a show "I'm here to see what passes for fun in this city after 5 years"

I never asked if sometimes you can use the 2. What is correct?

"I'm here to see what passes for fun in this city after 5 years"
"I'm here to see what passes off as fun in this city after 5 years"

Pass off is correct?
"She passed him off as her son"

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I heard on a show "I'm here to see what passes for fun in this city after 5 years"

I never asked if sometimes you can use the 2. What is correct?

"I'm here to see what passes for fun in this city after 5 years" OK. I'm here to see what people think is fun in this city after 5 years. The use of 'passes as fun' suggests that the writer do not think it is really fun.

"I'm here to see what passes off as fun in this city after 5 years" Not correct.

Pass off is correct?
"She passed him off as her son" Correct.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi I'm trying to explain this movie in one sentence.
I don't know if you have watch the film Argo.

In the movie, someone comes into Tehran to pass off American as Canadian Actors.
In the movie, The Americans stuck in Tehran are passed off as Canadian actors so that they can get out of the country.
In the movie, The Americans stuck in Tehran pass off as Canadian actors to get out of the country.
In the movie, The Americans stuck in Tehran passed for Canadian actors to get out of the country.

Which of these are a possibility?

pass for vs pass off vs pass as

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