palmvspaysWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“palm” and “pays” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,649
“palm” frequency rank
#41,381
“pays” frequency rank
60030
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature palm pays
Definition innere Fläche der Hand, zwischen Handwurzel und Fingern; Mittelhand, Handfläche Plural des Substantivs pay

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set palm and pays apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
palm
4 ch
pays

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. palm ([pɑːm]) and pays ([peɪz]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

palm is recorded at frequency rank #18,649, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɑːm]. pays is at rank #41,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced [peɪz].

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 60030, this pair ranks #802,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of palm vs pays

Shared letters: ap. Private to "palm": lm. Private to "pays": sy.

"palm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • palmaplm · pallm · palmm · paml · plam · ppalm
  • paysapys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas

Frequency comparison

palm#18,649
pays#41,381

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "palm" and "pays" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɑːm] versus [peɪz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "palm" or "pays"?
"palm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,649 in our German list, against #41,381 for "pays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering palm vs pays

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 “palm” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list