capitalevscapitalesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: capitale is a noun, capitales is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“capitale” is a noun and “capitales” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,388
“capitale” frequency rank
#12,119
“capitales” frequency rank
13507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature capitale capitales
Definition Ville où siègent le gouvernement et le pouvoir législatif de l’État. Féminin pluriel de capital.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set capitale and capitales apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
capitale
9 ch
capitales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: capitale and capitales carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ka.pi.tal\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “capitale” sits inside “capitales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

capitale is recorded at frequency rank #1,388, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.pi.tal\. capitales is at rank #12,119, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.pi.tal\.

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 13507, this pair ranks #400,742 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of capitale vs capitales

Shared letters: aceilpt. Private to "capitale": -. Private to "capitales": s.

"capitale" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "capitales" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • capitaleacpitale · caiptale · capiatle · capitael · capitalle · capitlae · capittale · cappitale
  • capitalesacpitales · caiptales · capiatles · capitaels · capitaless · capitalles · capitalse · capitlaes

Frequency comparison

capitale#1,388
capitales#12,119

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "capitale" and "capitales" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "capitale" is a noun and "capitales" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "capitale" or "capitales"?
"capitale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,388 in our French list, against #12,119 for "capitales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering capitale vs capitales

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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