Which to use
“pact” is a noun and “pay” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,740
- “pact” frequency rank
- #390
- “pay” frequency rank
- 11130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pact | pay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An agreement; a compact; a covenant. | To give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services. |
Where the eye mixes pact and pay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pact and pay
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pact is /pækt/ while pay is /peɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pact is recorded at frequency rank #10,740, classified as anoun, pronounced /pækt/. pay is at rank #390, tagged as averb, 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 11130, this pair ranks #488,743 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pact vs pay
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pact": ct. Private to "pay": y.
"pact" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pact ← apct · pacct · pactt · patc · pcat · ppact
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pact" for "pay" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pact" vs "pay" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pact" 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 #488,743 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pact" and "pay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pact 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 #488,743 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.