Which to use
“play” and “played” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #222
- “play” frequency rank
- #590
- “played” frequency rank
- 812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | play | played |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment. | simple past and past participle of play |
Where the eye mixes play and played
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. play (/pleɪ/) and played (/pleɪd/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “play” sits inside “played”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
play is recorded at frequency rank #222, classified as averb, pronounced /pleɪ/. played is at rank #590, tagged as averb, pronounced /pleɪd/.
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 812, this pair ranks #528,737 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of play vs played
Shared letters: alpy. Private to "play": -. Private to "played": de.
"play" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "played" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC