Which to use
“pays” is a verb and “pye” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,622
- “pays” frequency rank
- #46,714
- “pye” frequency rank
- 51336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pays | pye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of pay | Archaic spelling of pie (pastry food). |
Letter map: pays vs pye
Shared letters muted; letters that set pays and pye apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pays is averb and pyeanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51336, 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/. pye is at rank #46,714, tagged as anoun.
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 51336, this pair ranks #166,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pays vs pye
Shared letters: py. Private to "pays": as. Private to "pye": e.
"pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pye" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pays ← apys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas