pedalsvspeddleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pedals is a noun, peddle is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pedals” is a noun and “peddle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,612
“pedals” frequency rank
#39,021
“peddle” frequency rank
60633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedals peddle
Definition plural of pedal To sell things, especially door to door or in insignificant quantities.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pedals
6 ch
peddle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pedals is /ˈpɛdəlz/ while peddle is /ˈpɛdəl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedals is recorded at frequency rank #21,612, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛdəlz/. peddle is at rank #39,021, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɛdəl/.

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 60633, this pair ranks #99,069 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pedals vs peddle

Shared letters: delp. Private to "pedals": as. Private to "peddle": -.

"pedals" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "peddle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pedalsepdals · pdeals · peadls · pedalls · pedalss · pedasl · peddals · pedlas
  • peddleepddle · pdedle · peddel · peddlle · pedlde · pedle · ppeddle

Frequency comparison

pedals#21,612
peddle#39,021

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pedals" and "peddle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pedals" is a noun and "peddle" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pedals" or "peddle"?
"pedals" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,612 in our English list, against #39,021 for "peddle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pedals vs peddle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pedals”; for a verb, it's “peddle”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pedals” 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