paivsPMRConfusable pair

Quick tell: pai is a verb, PMR is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pai” is a verb and “PMR” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,232
“pai” frequency rank
#48,720
“PMR” frequency rank
82952
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pai PMR
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de pular. Personne à mobilité réduite ; par exemple, personne qui se déplace en fauteuil roulant.

Where the eye mixes pai and PMR

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. pai (CVV) and PMR (CCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
pai
3 ch
PMR

Why the eye confuses pai with PMR

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pai is [ˈpa.i] while PMR is \pe.ɛm.ɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pai is recorded at frequency rank #34,232, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpa.i]. PMR is at rank #48,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.ɛm.ɛʁ\.

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 82952, this pair ranks #15,698 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pai vs PMR

Shared letters: p. Private to "pai": ai. Private to "PMR": mr.

"pai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "PMR" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pai" for "PMR" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pai" is a verb and "PMR" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "pai" or "PMR" show up more?
"pai" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,232 in our French list, against #48,720 for "PMR". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pai" and "PMR" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "PMR" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,698 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pai" and "PMR" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs PMR". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #15,698 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list