Which to use
“parted” and “payed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,296
- “parted” frequency rank
- #30,911
- “payed” frequency rank
- 47207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parted | payed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of part | Obsolete spelling of paid. |
Letter map: parted vs payed
Shared letters muted; letters that set parted and payed apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Corpus notes: parted and payed
parted and payed are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parted is recorded at frequency rank #16,296, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpɑɹtɪd/. payed is at rank #30,911, tagged as averb.
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 47207, this pair ranks #204,568 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parted vs payed
Shared letters: adep. Private to "parted": rt. Private to "payed": y.
"parted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "payed" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "parted" and "payed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "parted" or "payed"?
After this comparison
You've compared "parted" and "payed". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "parted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #204,568 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parted" and "payed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "payed vs plied". 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 #204,568 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.