Which to use
“paie” is a noun and “paient” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,345
- “paie” frequency rank
- #9,358
- “paient” frequency rank
- 12703
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paie | paient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de payer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de payer. |
Same sound, different letters: paie vs paient
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. paie runs 4 letters (CVVV) against paient's 6 (CVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - paie / paient
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: paie and paient carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pɛ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “paie” sits inside “paient”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paie is recorded at frequency rank #3,345, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛ\. paient is at rank #9,358, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛ\.
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 12703, this pair ranks #404,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of paie vs paient
Shared letters: aeip. Private to "paie": -. Private to "paient": nt.
"paie" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "paient" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "paie" and "paient" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "paie" or "paient"?
After this comparison
"paie" and "paient" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "paie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paie" and "paient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paient vs payen". 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 #404,139 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.