Which to use
“payés” is an adjective and “pes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,591
- “payés” frequency rank
- #33,825
- “pes” frequency rank
- 39416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payés | pes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de payé. | Pluriel de pe. |
Where the eye mixes payés and pes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. payés runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against pes's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses payés with pes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: payés is \pɛ.je\ while pes is \pe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payés is recorded at frequency rank #5,591, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛ.je\. pes is at rank #33,825, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe\.
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 39416, this pair ranks #248,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of payés vs pes
Shared letters: ps. Private to "payés": ayé. Private to "pes": e.
"payés" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "payés" and "pes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "payés" vs "pes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "payés" and "pes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "payés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payés" and "pes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pes vs prep". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #248,123 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.