Which to use
“pace” and “pay” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,175
- “pace” frequency rank
- #23,167
- “pay” frequency rank
- 58342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pace | pay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pacer. | Pagar. |
Where the eye mixes pace and pay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pace and pay
A purely visual mix-up. pace ([ˈpase]) and pay (/peɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pace is recorded at frequency rank #35,175, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpase]. pay is at rank #23,167, 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 58342, this pair ranks #66,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pace vs pay
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pace": ce. Private to "pay": y.
"pace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "pay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pace ← apce · pacce · paec · pcae · ppace
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pace" and "pay" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pace" or "pay" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pace" and "pay" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pace" 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 #66,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pace" and "pay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pace vs PRC". 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 #66,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.