paguenvspaguesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,337
“paguen” frequency rank
#24,589
“pagues” frequency rank
33926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paguen pagues
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de pagar o de pagarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de pagar o de pagarse.

Where the eye mixes paguen and pagues

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. paguen and pagues follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
paguen
6 ch
pagues

Look-alike desk: paguen vs pagues

A purely visual mix-up. paguen ([ˈpaɣ̞ẽn]) and pagues ([ˈpaɣ̞es]) 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 a single letter - n in “paguen” becomes s in “pagues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paguen is recorded at frequency rank #9,337, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpaɣ̞ẽn]. pagues is at rank #24,589, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpaɣ̞es].

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 33926, this pair ranks #194,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paguen vs pagues

Shared letters: aegpu. Private to "paguen": n. Private to "pagues": s.

"paguen" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "pagues" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paguen ← apguen · pageun · pagguen · paguenn · pagune · paugen · pgauen · ppaguen
  • pagues ← apgues · pageus · paggues · paguess · paguse · pauges · pgaues · ppagues

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "paguen" and "pagues" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpaɣ̞ẽn] versus [ˈpaɣ̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "paguen" or "pagues"?
"paguen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,337 in our Spanish list, against #24,589 for "pagues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "paguen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pagues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paguen" and "pagues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paguemos vs pagues". 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 #194,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list