Which to use
“pain” and “pay” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,652
- “pain” frequency rank
- #10,338
- “pay” frequency rank
- 33990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pain | pay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Schmerz | Geld, das man für eine Arbeitsleistung (meist regelmäßig) bekommt |
Where the eye mixes pain and pay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pain and pay
A purely visual mix-up. pain ([peɪn]) and pay ([peɪ]) 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 33990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pain is recorded at frequency rank #23,652, classified as anoun, pronounced [peɪn]. pay is at rank #10,338, tagged as anoun, pronounced [peɪ].
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 33990, this pair ranks #1,673,526 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pain vs pay
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pain": in. Private to "pay": y.
"pain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pain ← apin · painn · pani · pian · ppain
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pain" and "pay" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "pain" or "pay" show up more?
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 "pain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,673,526 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pain" and "pay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pain vs Pau". 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 #1,673,526 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.