paiementsvspigmentsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“paiements” and “pigments” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,748
“paiements” frequency rank
#25,766
“pigments” frequency rank
34514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paiements pigments
Definition Pluriel de paiement. Pluriel de pigment.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set paiements and pigments apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
paiements
8 ch
pigments

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. paiements (\pɛ.mɑ̃\) and pigments (\piɡ.mɑ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paiements is recorded at frequency rank #8,748, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛ.mɑ̃\. pigments is at rank #25,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced \piɡ.mɑ̃\.

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 34514, this pair ranks #283,313 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paiements vs pigments

Shared letters: eimnpst. Private to "paiements": a. Private to "pigments": g.

"paiements" · 9 letters · shape CVVVCVCCC  ·  "pigments" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paiementsapiements · paeiments · paieemnts · paiemennts · paiemenst · paiementss · paiementts · paiemetns
  • pigmentsipgments · pgiments · pigemnts · piggments · pigmennts · pigmenst · pigmentss · pigmentts

Frequency comparison

paiements#8,748
pigments#25,766

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "paiements" and "pigments" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛ.mɑ̃\ versus \piɡ.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "paiements" or "pigments"?
"paiements" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,748 in our French list, against #25,766 for "pigments". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering paiements vs pigments

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “paiements” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list