Which to use
“plain” is an adjective and “plaints” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,230
- “plain” frequency rank
- #40,927
- “plaints” frequency rank
- 58157
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plain | plaints |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est uni, plat, sans inégalités. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de plaindre. |
Same sound, different letters: plain vs plaints
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - plain and plaints
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: plain and plaints carry the same recorded pronunciation, \plɛ̃\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “plain” sits inside “plaints”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plain is recorded at frequency rank #17,230, classified as anadj, pronounced \plɛ̃\. plaints is at rank #40,927, tagged as averb, 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 58157, this pair ranks #110,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plain vs plaints
Shared letters: ailnp. Private to "plain": -. Private to "plaints": st.
"plain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "plaints" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plain" and "plaints" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "plain" or "plaints"?
After this comparison
"plain" and "plaints" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "plain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plaints" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #110,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plain" and "plaints" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plaints vs planes". 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 #110,702 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.