Which to use
“patt” is an adjective and “pays” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,502
- “patt” frequency rank
- #41,381
- “pays” frequency rank
- 86883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patt | pays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Im Schachspiel: nicht im Schach zu stehen, jedoch keinen regelgerechten Zug mehr ausführen können, ohne in ein Schach zu geraten; die Partie wird dann als unentschieden gewertet | Plural des Substantivs pay |
Where the eye mixes patt and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. patt (CVCC) and pays (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between patt and pays
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patt is [pat] while pays is [peɪz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patt is recorded at frequency rank #45,502, classified as anadj, pronounced [pat]. 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 86883, this pair ranks #87,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of patt vs pays
Shared letters: ap. Private to "patt": t. Private to "pays": sy.
"patt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patt" and "pays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "patt" or "pays" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "patt" and "pays" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "patt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patt" and "pays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patt 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 #87,674 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.