Which to use
“pays” is a verb and “PBS” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,622
- “pays” frequency rank
- #14,610
- “PBS” frequency rank
- 19232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pays | PBS |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of pay | Initialism of Public Broadcasting Service |
Letter map: pays vs PBS
Shared letters muted; letters that set pays and PBS apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: pays vs PBS
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pays is averb and PBSaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pays is recorded at frequency rank #4,622, classified as averb, pronounced /peɪz/. PBS is at rank #14,610, tagged as aname.
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 19232, this pair ranks #439,593 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pays vs PBS
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pays": ay. Private to "PBS": b.
"pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "PBS" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pays ← apys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pays" for "PBS" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pays" or "PBS"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "pays" and "PBS".
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "PBS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,593 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pays" and "PBS" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PBS vs PPA". 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 #439,593 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.