Which to use
“plans” is a verb and “plays” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,673
- “plans” frequency rank
- #18,658
- “plays” frequency rank
- 38331
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plans | plays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs plan | Plural des Substantivs play |
Letter map: plans vs plays
Shared letters muted; letters that set plans and plays apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - plans and plays
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: plans is averb and playsanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - n in “plans” becomes y in “plays”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plans is recorded at frequency rank #19,673, classified as averb, pronounced […]. 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 38331, this pair ranks #1,566,741 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of plans vs plays
Shared letters: alps. Private to "plans": n. Private to "plays": y.
"plans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "plays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "plans" for "plays" ever safe?
Frequency check: "plans" vs "plays" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "plans" and "plays". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "plans" 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 #1,566,741 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plans" and "plays" 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 #1,566,741 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.