Which to use
“plans” and “play” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,673
- “plans” frequency rank
- #3,206
- “play” frequency rank
- 22879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plans | play |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs plan | spielen |
Letter map: plans vs play
Shared letters muted; letters that set plans and play apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Pair insight - plans / play
plans and play are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plans is recorded at frequency rank #19,673, classified as averb, pronounced […]. play is at rank #3,206, tagged as averb, pronounced [pleɪ].
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 22879, this pair ranks #1,868,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of plans vs play
Shared letters: alp. Private to "plans": ns. Private to "play": y.
"plans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "play" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "plans" and "play" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "plans" vs "play" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "plans" and "play".
- Full dictionary entry for "plans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "play" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,868,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plans" and "play" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plans vs puzzles". 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 #1,868,568 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.