Which to use
“pays” is a verb and “pus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,622
- “pays” frequency rank
- #28,336
- “pus” frequency rank
- 32958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pays | pus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of pay | A whitish-yellow or yellow substance composed primarily of dead white blood cells and dead pyogenic bacteria, normally found in regions of bacterial infection. |
Where the eye mixes pays and pus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pays and pus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pays is /peɪz/ while pus is /pʌs/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32958, 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/. pus is at rank #28,336, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pʌs/.
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 32958, this pair ranks #333,448 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pays vs pus
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pays": ay. Private to "pus": u.
"pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pays ← apys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pays" for "pus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pays" vs "pus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,448 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pays" and "pus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PPA vs pus". 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 #333,448 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.