playvsPLZTell them apart

Quick tell: play is a verb, PLZ is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“play” is a verb and “PLZ” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,206
“play” frequency rank
#15,721
“PLZ” frequency rank
18927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature play PLZ
Definition spielen Postleitzahl

Letter map: play vs PLZ

Shared letters muted; letters that set play and PLZ apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
play
3 ch
PLZ

Grammar separator: play vs PLZ

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: play is averb and PLZanabbrev. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

play is recorded at frequency rank #3,206, classified as averb, pronounced [pleɪ]. PLZ is at rank #15,721, tagged as anabbrev.

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 18927, this pair ranks #1,913,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of play vs PLZ

Shared letters: lp. Private to "play": ay. Private to "PLZ": z.

"play" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "PLZ" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • playlpay · paly · playy · pllay · plya · pplay

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "play" for "PLZ" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "play" is a verb and "PLZ" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "play" or "PLZ" show up more?
"play" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,206 in our German list, against #15,721 for "PLZ". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "play" and "PLZ".

  • Full dictionary entry for "play" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "PLZ" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,913,472 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "play" and "PLZ" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PLZ vs PMS". 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 #1,913,472 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