placésvsplansWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,062
“placés” frequency rank
#1,929
“plans” frequency rank
6991
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature placés plans
Definition Masculin pluriel de placé. Masculin pluriel de plan.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
placés
5 ch
plans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. placés (\pla.se\) and plans (\plɑ̃\) 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 6991, 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\. plans is at rank #1,929, tagged as anadj, pronounced \plɑ̃\.

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 6991, this pair ranks #424,591 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of placés vs plans

Shared letters: alps. Private to "placés": . Private to "plans": n.

"placés" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "plans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • planslpans · palns · planns · planss · plasn · pllans · plnas · pplans

Frequency comparison

placés#5,062
plans#1,929

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "placés" and "plans" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pla.se\ versus \plɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "placés" or "plans"?
"plans" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,929 in our French list, against #5,062 for "placés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering placés vs plans

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