planesvsplanstConfusable pair

Quick tell: planes is a adjective, planst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“planes” is an adjective and “planst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,514
“planes” frequency rank
#40,139
“planst” frequency rank
85653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature planes planst
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs plan 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs planen

Where the eye mixes planes and planst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
planes
6 ch
planst

Why the eye confuses planes with planst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: planes is [ˈplaːnəs] while planst is [plaːnst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

planes is recorded at frequency rank #45,514, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈplaːnəs]. planst is at rank #40,139, tagged as averb, pronounced [plaːnst].

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 85653, this pair ranks #105,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of planes vs planst

Shared letters: alnps. Private to "planes": e. Private to "planst": t.

"planes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "planst" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • planeslpanes · palnes · plaens · planess · plannes · planse · pllanes · plnaes
  • planstlpanst · palnst · plannst · plansst · planstt · plasnt · pllanst · plnast

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "planes" for "planst" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "planes" is an adjective and "planst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "planes" or "planst"?
"planst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,139 in our German list, against #45,514 for "planes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "planes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "planst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,067 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "planes" and "planst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "planes 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 #105,067 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