Which to use
“plays” and “plis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,787
- “plays” frequency rank
- #16,211
- “plis” frequency rank
- 61998
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plays | plis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de play. | Pluriel de pli. |
Where the eye mixes plays and plis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: plays vs plis
A purely visual mix-up. plays (\ˈpleɪz\) and plis (\pli\) 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 61998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plays is recorded at frequency rank #45,787, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈpleɪz\. plis is at rank #16,211, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pli\.
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 61998, this pair ranks #89,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plays vs plis
Shared letters: lps. Private to "plays": ay. Private to "plis": i.
"plays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "plis" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "plays" and "plis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "plays" or "plis"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plays" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plays" and "plis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plays vs pliés". 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 #89,379 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.