Which to use
“Pâques” is a name and “payés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,359
- “Pâques” frequency rank
- #5,591
- “payés” frequency rank
- 12950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pâques | payés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fête que les chrétiens solennisent tous les ans en mémoire de la résurrection de Jésus-Christ, et qu’ils célèbrent le premier dimanche qui suit la pleine lune de l’équinoxe de printemps. | Masculin pluriel de payé. |
Where the eye mixes Pâques and payés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Pâques with payés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pâques is \pak\ while payés is \pɛ.je\. 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 (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pâques is recorded at frequency rank #7,359, classified as aname, pronounced \pak\. payés is at rank #5,591, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɛ.je\.
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 12950, this pair ranks #403,063 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Pâques vs payés
Shared letters: ps. Private to "Pâques": equâ. Private to "payés": ayé.
"Pâques" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "payés" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Pâques" and "payés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Pâques" vs "payés" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pâques" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,063 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pâques" and "payés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pâques vs pasque". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #403,063 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.