Which to use
“payez” is a verb and “pays” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,204
- “payez” frequency rank
- #137
- “pays” frequency rank
- 15341
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | payez | pays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de payer. | Territoire d’une nation. |
Where the eye mixes payez and pays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between payez and pays
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: payez is \pɛ.je\ while pays is \pe.i\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
payez is recorded at frequency rank #15,204, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛ.je\. pays is at rank #137, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.i\.
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 15341, this pair ranks #392,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of payez vs pays
Shared letters: apy. Private to "payez": ez. Private to "pays": s.
"payez" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "pays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "payez" and "pays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "payez" vs "pays" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "payez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "payez" and "pays" 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 #392,776 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.