Which to use
“pater” and “paye” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,474
- “pater” frequency rank
- #3,028
- “paye” frequency rank
- 41502
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pater | paye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prière du Notre Père. | Salaire ou rémunération d’un travail. |
Where the eye mixes pater and paye
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pater with paye
A purely visual mix-up. pater (\pa.tɛʁ\) and paye (\pɛj\) 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 41502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pater is recorded at frequency rank #38,474, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛʁ\. paye is at rank #3,028, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛj\.
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 41502, this pair ranks #232,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pater vs paye
Shared letters: aep. Private to "pater": rt. Private to "paye": y.
"pater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "paye" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pater" for "paye" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pater" vs "paye" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pater" and "paye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pater vs pètes". 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 #232,621 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.