Which to use
“pavées” and “payées” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,952
- “pavées” frequency rank
- #12,016
- “payées” frequency rank
- 53968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pavées | payées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de pavé. | Féminin pluriel de payé. |
Where the eye mixes pavées and payées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pavées (CVCVVC) and payées (CVVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: pavées vs payées
A purely visual mix-up. pavées (\pa.ve\) and payées (\pɛ.je\) 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 a single letter - v in “pavées” becomes y in “payées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pavées is recorded at frequency rank #41,952, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.ve\. payées is at rank #12,016, 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 53968, this pair ranks #137,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pavées vs payées
Shared letters: aepsé. Private to "pavées": v. Private to "payées": y.
"pavées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "payées" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pavées" and "payées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "pavées" or "payées" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pavées" and "payées" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pavées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #137,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pavées" and "payées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pactes vs pavées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #137,223 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.