calculevscalculsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,733
“calcule” frequency rank
#6,168
“calculs” frequency rank
18901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature calcule calculs
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe calculer. Pluriel de calcul.

Same sound, different letters: calcule vs calculs

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. calcule (CVCCVCV) and calculs (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
calcule
7 ch
calculs

Same sound, different spelling - calcule / calculs

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: calcule and calculs carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kal.kyl\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “calcule” becomes s in “calculs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

calcule is recorded at frequency rank #12,733, classified as averb, pronounced \kal.kyl\. calculs is at rank #6,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kal.kyl\.

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 18901, this pair ranks #376,029 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of calcule vs calculs

Shared letters: aclu. Private to "calcule": e. Private to "calculs": s.

"calcule" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "calculs" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • calcule ← aclcule · caclule · calccule · calclue · calcuel · calculle · callcule · calucle
  • calculs ← aclculs · cacluls · calcculs · calclus · calculls · calculss · calcusl · callculs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "calcule" for "calculs" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "calcule" is a verb and "calculs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "calcule" vs "calculs" - which ranks higher?
"calculs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,168 in our French list, against #12,733 for "calcule". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "calcule" / "calculs". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "calcule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "calculs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #376,029 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "calcule" and "calculs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calcule vs calquée". 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 #376,029 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list