Which to use
“places” and “plays” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,412
- “places” frequency rank
- #18,658
- “plays” frequency rank
- 62070
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | places | plays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs place | Plural des Substantivs play |
Where the eye mixes places and plays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between places and plays
A purely visual mix-up. places ([ˈpleɪsɪz]) 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 62070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
places is recorded at frequency rank #43,412, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpleɪsɪz]. 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 62070, this pair ranks #726,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of places vs plays
Shared letters: alps. Private to "places": ce. Private to "plays": y.
"places" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "plays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "places" and "plays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "places" or "plays"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "places" 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 #726,279 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "places" and "plays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "places vs plants". 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 #726,279 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.