Which to use
“paye” and “plays” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,028
- “paye” frequency rank
- #45,787
- “plays” frequency rank
- 48815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paye | plays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Salaire ou rémunération d’un travail. | Pluriel de play. |
Where the eye mixes paye and plays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: paye vs plays
A purely visual mix-up. paye (\pɛj\) and plays (\ˈpleɪz\) 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 48815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paye is recorded at frequency rank #3,028, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛj\. plays is at rank #45,787, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈpleɪz\.
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 48815, this pair ranks #175,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paye vs plays
Shared letters: apy. Private to "paye": e. Private to "plays": ls.
"paye" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "plays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "paye" and "plays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "paye" vs "plays" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "paye" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paye" and "plays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plays vs pliés". 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 #175,825 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.