PassvsplaysWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Pass” and “plays” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,315
“Pass” frequency rank
#18,658
“plays” frequency rank
20973
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pass plays
Definition Dokument, das für Auslandsreisen erforderlich ist, falls es zwischen dem Heimatland und dem Zielland keine Sondervereinbarungen gibt; Reisepass Plural des Substantivs play

Where the eye mixes Pass and plays

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Pass
5 ch
plays

Look-alike desk: Pass vs plays

A purely visual mix-up. Pass ([pas]) and plays ([pleɪs]) 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 20973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pass is recorded at frequency rank #2,315, classified as anoun, pronounced [pas]. plays is at rank #18,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pleɪs].

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 20973, this pair ranks #1,891,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pass vs plays

Shared letters: aps. Private to "Pass": -. Private to "plays": ly.

"Pass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "plays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Passapss · paß · ppass · psas
  • playslpays · palys · plasy · playss · playys · pllays · plyas · pplays

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pass" and "plays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pas] versus [pleɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pass" vs "plays" - which ranks higher?
"Pass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,315 in our German list, against #18,658 for "plays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Pass" and "plays" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pass" 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 #1,891,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pass" and "plays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plants vs plays". 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 #1,891,634 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list