English has its fun nature with words, syllables, and forms. You are not the only one to get confused sometimes, like Me Vs I, Does Vs Do, Say Vs Tell, and there are many more to list. It’s a good thing you don’t have to take English classes to correct these, with a bit of pretext and English speaking you’ll catch the differences and so, Hooray no worries! Here is the topic- Paid vs Payed, which is right?
The English language has a vast set of rules if you get into speaking and writing, but it also differs geographically. However, the heart of the language is all the same.
A common mistake we found, is the usage of paid and payed. I know some might think, obviously you will use ‘paid’ right? Some might even think, is ‘payed’ a word? Well, if you normally google search pay, it gives results ‘paid’ as the past tense of the verb. And when you search payed you get, ‘payed’ is also the past tense of pay, past participle to be precise.
So, does one verb can have two past tenses?
Now, your head is spinning, and you think did I bunk few English classes in school? First thing, relax we are not going into technicality. It’s simple, trust me. In this article, your doubts will be cleared in a flash. And hope you won’t find the use of these words difficult anymore.
PAY; The verb
For the sake of general-purpose let’s go through the definition of the verb ‘Pay’.
The pronunciation goes as /pei/
When pay is the verb, it means giving an amount of money to someone due, or for any service provided, or for something you want to purchase. Also, it can mean facing a consequence for an action. And pay can also be associated with some nouns for indication of something is done or given.
When pay is a noun, it entitles the money which is offered for the services you’ve provided. Simply the amount of money you receive after completion of a work done.
The word pay can be transformed to an adjective as payable or pay as you go. But ‘paid’ the word we will focus on here is itself a verb and an adjective.
What is all the FUSS About?
Some people think these two words ‘Paid’ and ‘Payed’ have only spelling differences, but no that’s not the case. The use of paid & payed both are correct, but only if in condition. In the majority of cases, the past tense paid is used, which is mostly for financial or transactional purposes. And in nautical cases (i.e of concerning direction, usually relating to ships and ropes; maritime) the past tense takes payed form.
You didn’t catch me when I mentioned nautically, isn’t it? Let’s get into an example for a better understanding.
Example:
PAID –
I checked my account; the amount had been paid. – A simple sentence reflecting finance.
Ian paid me a visit when I was in Milan. – Non-financial yet transactional meaning interaction between people.
PAYED –
This ship looks fine but has yet to be payed.
The caption payed out additional rope for the ships.
You see, the meaning may or may not be the same but the sense changed in a particular sentence. Now, see another sentence for demonstration.
The sailor was paid well because he payed the joints of the ship.
Here, you observe both of the past tenses are used. Paid is used to designate the financial purpose, and payed is used to deliver as the work is done.
When to use it?
From the above discussion, you should have concluded the difference sets in the usage of the verb pay. Pay is known to have an irregular verb form. That is, when turned into a past tense the suffix -ed is not used, instead -id is used. Then, why the use of both is valid in English? Let’s see why this irregular verb form stands out.
PAYED
Used rarely than any other forms of verb pay, it is the past tense and past participle of pay. As mentioned above payed is more used in nautical terms. There is no solid reason why but, has a common historical part, which works with ropes and ship hulls. Like pay can also mean to slacken the rope or line, which allows the rope to run out.
We’ve collected some examples outside the nautical terms;
- All Monday nights training payed off as Bolton County played one-touch football.
- Professional players payed megabucks should score penalties with their eyes shut.
- I love him so much and this is how I get payed back- it’s like he is stepping on my heart.
PAID
Most of the time ‘Pay’ operates as a transitive verb. And have 3 basic tenses; pay (present), paid (past), paying (gerund or present participle).
Commonly used, which comes to mind instantly, only avoided in nautical terms. Yet, using paid also in nautical terms won’t be incorrect. Paid acts as the transitive past tense verb or an adjective.
Some examples as an adjective:
- Paid workers, or people who do pay work, receive money for the work that they do.
- One of the employee’s benefits is receiving paid sick time.
Conclusion
Remember the word ‘Pay’ does behave otherwise than usual when a transition of past tense occurs. The ‘i’ in paid is the key not to commit the mistake. A tip to remind yourself is to say “I” am right, which reflects paid is right to apply in nearly all instances in place of payed.
FAQS
1. Is it okay to use both paid and payed interchangeably?
No, both are the same (past) tense. However, the use of paid is more into consideration. Anyway, apart from nautical terms payed is hardly used in other meaning or direction.
2. Can ‘Payed’ be considered as an alternative to ‘Paid’?
Absolutely no. Payed is just another form of the past tense of the verb pay which has been used in history and thus, now it is in existence yet the adaptation to paid is the right form of the verb.