Which to use
“paille” and “paire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,119
- “paille” frequency rank
- #3,630
- “paire” frequency rank
- 9749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paille | paire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tige et épi du blé, du seigle, de l’orge, le riz, etc., quand le grain en a été séparé. | Deux choses de même espèce, qui vont nécessairement ou ordinairement ensemble. |
Where the eye mixes paille and paire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses paille with paire
A purely visual mix-up. paille (\paj\) and paire (\pɛʁ\) 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 9749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paille is recorded at frequency rank #6,119, classified as anoun, pronounced \paj\. paire is at rank #3,630, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ\.
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 9749, this pair ranks #415,558 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of paille vs paire
Shared letters: aeip. Private to "paille": l. Private to "paire": r.
"paille" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "paire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "paille" and "paire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "paille" or "paire"?
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 "paille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,558 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paille" and "paire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paella vs paille". 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 #415,558 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.