Which to use
“pavées” and “payés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,952
- “pavées” frequency rank
- #5,591
- “payés” frequency rank
- 47543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pavées | payés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de pavé. | Masculin pluriel de payé. |
Where the eye mixes pavées and payés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pavées runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against payés's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pavées and payés
A purely visual mix-up. pavées (\pa.ve\) and payés (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47543, 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\. 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 47543, this pair ranks #186,121 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pavées vs payés
Shared letters: apsé. Private to "pavées": ev. Private to "payés": y.
"pavées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "payés" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pavées" and "payés" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pavées" or "payés"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pavées" and "payés" 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 "payés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #186,121 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pavées" and "payés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pactes vs pavées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #186,121 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.