Which to use
“país” is a noun and “pay” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #133
- “país” frequency rank
- #23,167
- “pay” frequency rank
- 23300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | país | pay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Comunidad humana numerosa, organizada en un territorio, para defender su interés común frente a otras comunidades del mismo tipo. | Pagar. |
Where the eye mixes país and pay
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: país is [paˈis] while pay is /peɪ/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
país is recorded at frequency rank #133, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈis]. 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 23300, this pair ranks #246,434 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of país vs pay
Shared letters: ap. Private to "país": sí. Private to "pay": y.
"país" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pay" · 3 letters · shape CVV