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 eye mixes pad and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pad runs 3 letters (CVC) against pays's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pad with pays
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pad" and "pays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pad" vs "pays" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pad" and "pays" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,232 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pad" and "pays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pa'l vs pays". 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 #22,232 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.