Which to use
“compare” and “compares” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,175
- “compare” frequency rank
- #44,939
- “compares” frequency rank
- 51114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compare | compares |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de comparer. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de comparer. |
Same sound, different letters: compare vs compares
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - compare / compares
This is the hard kind. compare and compares are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.paʁ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “compare” sits inside “compares”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compare is recorded at frequency rank #6,175, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.paʁ\. compares is at rank #44,939, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.paʁ\.
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 51114, this pair ranks #157,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of compare vs compares
Shared letters: acemopr. Private to "compare": -. Private to "compares": s.
"compare" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "compares" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "compare" and "compares" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "compare" vs "compares" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "compare" / "compares". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "compare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "compares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compare" and "compares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compares vs comptées". 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 #157,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.