chocolatevschocolatsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,340
“chocolate” frequency rank
#14,221
“chocolats” frequency rank
46561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chocolate chocolats
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de chocolater. Pluriel de chocolat.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
chocolate
9 ch
chocolats

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chocolate is \ʃɔ.kɔ.lat\ while chocolats is \ʃɔ.kɔ.la\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “chocolate” becomes s in “chocolats”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chocolate is recorded at frequency rank #32,340, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃɔ.kɔ.lat\. chocolats is at rank #14,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɔ.kɔ.la\.

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 46561, this pair ranks #193,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chocolate vs chocolats

Shared letters: achlot. Private to "chocolate": e. Private to "chocolats": s.

"chocolate" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "chocolats" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chocolatecchocolate · chcoolate · chhocolate · choccolate · chocloate · chocoalte · chocolaet · chocolatte
  • chocolatscchocolats · chcoolats · chhocolats · choccolats · chocloats · chocoalts · chocolast · chocolatss

Frequency comparison

chocolate#32,340
chocolats#14,221

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chocolate" and "chocolats" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chocolate" is a verb and "chocolats" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "chocolate" or "chocolats"?
"chocolats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,221 in our French list, against #32,340 for "chocolate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chocolate vs chocolats

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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