Which to use
“pack” is a noun and “pays” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,224
- “pack” frequency rank
- #4,622
- “pays” frequency rank
- 6846
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pack | pays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bundle made up and prepared to be carried; especially, a bundle to be carried on the back, but also a load for an animal, a bale. | third-person singular simple present indicative of pay |
Where the eye mixes pack and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pack vs pays
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pack is /pæk/ 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6846, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pack is recorded at frequency rank #2,224, classified as anoun, pronounced /pæk/. pays is at rank #4,622, tagged as averb, 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 6846, this pair ranks #509,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pack vs pays
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pack": ck. Private to "pays": sy.
"pack" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pack" and "pays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pack" vs "pays" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pack" and "pays" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pack" 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 #509,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pack" and "pays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pays vs pecs". 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 #509,720 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.