placésvsplainsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“placés” and “plains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,062
“placés” frequency rank
#9,721
“plains” frequency rank
14783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature placés plains
Definition Masculin pluriel de placé. Masculin pluriel de plain.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set placés and plains apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
placés
6 ch
plains

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. placés (\pla.se\) and plains (\plɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

placés is recorded at frequency rank #5,062, classified as anadj, pronounced \pla.se\. plains is at rank #9,721, tagged as anadj, pronounced \plɛ̃\.

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 14783, this pair ranks #395,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of placés vs plains

Shared letters: alps. Private to "placés": . Private to "plains": in.

"placés" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "plains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • plainslpains · palins · plainns · plainss · plaisn · planis · plians · pllains

Frequency comparison

placés#5,062
plains#9,721

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "placés" and "plains" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pla.se\ versus \plɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "placés" or "plains"?
"placés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,062 in our French list, against #9,721 for "plains". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering placés vs plains

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “placés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list