Which to use
“payaient” and “payent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,070
- “payaient” frequency rank
- #11,825
- “payent” frequency rank
- 40895
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payaient | payent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de payer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de payer. |
Where the eye mixes payaient and payent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. payaient runs 8 letters (CVVVVVCC) against payent's 6 (CVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses payaient with payent
A purely visual mix-up. payaient (\pɛ.jɛ\) and payent (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payaient is recorded at frequency rank #29,070, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛ.jɛ\. payent is at rank #11,825, tagged as averb, 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 40895, this pair ranks #237,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of payaient vs payent
Shared letters: aenpty. Private to "payaient": i. Private to "payent": -.
"payaient" · 8 letters · shape CVVVVVCC · "payent" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "payaient" for "payent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "payaient" or "payent"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "payaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "payent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payaient" and "payent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "payaient vs payais". 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 #237,107 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.