Which to use
“pay” and “pays” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,338
- “pay” frequency rank
- #41,381
- “pays” frequency rank
- 51719
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pay | pays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Geld, das man für eine Arbeitsleistung (meist regelmäßig) bekommt | Plural des Substantivs pay |
Where the eye mixes pay and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pay vs pays
A purely visual mix-up. pay ([peɪ]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “pay” sits inside “pays”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pay is recorded at frequency rank #10,338, classified as anoun, pronounced [peɪ]. 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 51719, this pair ranks #1,124,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pay vs pays
Shared letters: apy. Private to "pay": -. Private to "pays": s.
"pay" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pays ← apys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pay" for "pays" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "pay" or "pays" show up more?
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 "pay" 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 #1,124,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pay" and "pays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pays vs PMS". 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 #1,124,712 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.