Which to use
“payants” and “paysans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,934
- “payants” frequency rank
- #6,122
- “paysans” frequency rank
- 26056
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payants | paysans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de payant. | Masculin pluriel de paysan. |
Where the eye mixes payants and paysans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. payants (CVVVCCC) and paysans (CVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses payants with paysans
A purely visual mix-up. payants (\pɛ.jɑ̃\) and paysans (\pe.i.zɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payants is recorded at frequency rank #19,934, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛ.jɑ̃\. paysans is at rank #6,122, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pe.i.zɑ̃\.
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 26056, this pair ranks #337,377 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of payants vs paysans
Shared letters: anpsy. Private to "payants": t. Private to "paysans": -.
"payants" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCC · "paysans" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "payants" for "paysans" ever safe?
Frequency check: "payants" vs "paysans" - which ranks higher?
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 "payants" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paysans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,377 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payants" and "paysans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "payais vs payants". 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 #337,377 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.