pad vs pays, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“pad” and “pays” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,908
“pad” frequency rank: #42,064
“pays” frequency rank: 73972
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	pad	pays
Definition	Periférico táctil presente en las notebooks y otros dispositivos portátiles que permite el movimiento de un cursor sobre una interfaz gráfica; funciona como alternativa al mouse.	País.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pad and pays apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

pad

4 ch

pays

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pad ([ˈpað̞]) and pays (/pɛi/) 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 73972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pad is recorded at frequency rank #31,908, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpað̞]. pays is at rank #42,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɛi/.

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 73972, this pair ranks #22,232 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pad vs pays

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pad": d. Private to "pays": sy.

"pad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

pays ← apys · pasy · payss · payys · ppays · pyas

Frequency comparison

pad#31,908

pays#42,064

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pad" and "pays" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈpað̞] versus /pɛi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "pad" or "pays"?

"pad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,908 in our Spanish list, against #42,064 for "pays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pad vs pays

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pad” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable