Which to use
“plead” and “please” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,475
- “plead” frequency rank
- #208
- “please” frequency rank
- 12683
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plead | please |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case. | To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to. |
Where the eye mixes plead and please
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: plead vs please
A purely visual mix-up. plead (/pliːd/) and please (/pliːz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plead is recorded at frequency rank #12,475, classified as averb, pronounced /pliːd/. please is at rank #208, tagged as averb, pronounced /pliːz/.
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 12683, this pair ranks #480,141 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of plead vs please
Shared letters: aelp. Private to "plead": d. Private to "please": s.
"plead" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "please" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "plead" for "please" ever safe?
Which is more common, "plead" or "please"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "please" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #480,141 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plead" and "please" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plead vs plied". 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 #480,141 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.