Which to use
“pavés” is an adjective and “payez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,754
- “pavés” frequency rank
- #15,204
- “payez” frequency rank
- 29958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pavés | payez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de pavé. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de payer. |
Where the eye mixes pavés and payez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pavés (CVCVC) and payez (CVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pavés with payez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pavés is \pa.ve\ while payez is \pɛ.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pavés is recorded at frequency rank #14,754, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.ve\. payez is at rank #15,204, tagged as averb, 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 29958, this pair ranks #313,382 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pavés vs payez
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pavés": své. Private to "payez": eyz.
"pavés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "payez" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- payez ← apyez · paeyz · payezz · payyez · payze · ppayez · pyaez
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pavés" and "payez" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pavés" vs "payez" - 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 "pavés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,382 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pavés" and "payez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "payez vs Prez". 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 #313,382 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.