paguesvsparesTell them apart

Quick tell: pagues is a verb, pares is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pagues” is a verb and “pares” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,589
“pagues” frequency rank
#5,645
“pares” frequency rank
30234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagues pares
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de pagar o de pagarse. Forma del plural de par.

Where the eye mixes pagues and pares

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pagues runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against pares's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
pagues
5 ch
pares

Why the eye confuses pagues with pares

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pagues is [ˈpaɣ̞es] while pares is [ˈpaɾes]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagues is recorded at frequency rank #24,589, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpaɣ̞es]. pares is at rank #5,645, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpaɾes].

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 30234, this pair ranks #212,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pagues vs pares

Shared letters: aeps. Private to "pagues": gu. Private to "pares": r.

"pagues" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "pares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pagues ← apgues · pageus · paggues · paguess · paguse · pauges · pgaues · ppagues
  • pares ← apres · paers · paress · parres · parse · ppares · praes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pagues" and "pares" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pagues" is a verb and "pares" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "pagues" vs "pares" - which ranks higher?
"pares" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,645 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pagues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #212,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pagues" and "pares" 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 #212,986 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