Which to use
“pause” and “pays” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,730
- “pause” frequency rank
- #137
- “pays” frequency rank
- 2867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pause | pays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspension ou interruption momentanée d’une action. | Territoire d’une nation. |
Where the eye mixes pause and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pause vs pays
A purely visual mix-up. pause (\poz\) and pays (\pe.i\) 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 2867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pause is recorded at frequency rank #2,730, classified as anoun, pronounced \poz\. pays is at rank #137, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.i\.
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 2867, this pair ranks #435,322 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pause vs pays
Shared letters: aps. Private to "pause": eu. Private to "pays": y.
"pause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pause" for "pays" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pause" or "pays"?
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 "pause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,322 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pause" and "pays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pause vs prude". 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 #435,322 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.