pédalevspédalesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,124
“pédale” frequency rank
#18,844
“pédales” frequency rank
32968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pédale pédales
Definition Touche d'un instrument de musique que l'on actionne avec le pied. Féminin pluriel de pédale.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pédale and pédales apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pédale
7 ch
pédales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: pédale and pédales carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pe.dal\. 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) - “pédale” sits inside “pédales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pédale is recorded at frequency rank #14,124, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.dal\. pédales is at rank #18,844, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pe.dal\.

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 32968, this pair ranks #293,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pédale vs pédales

Shared letters: adelpé. Private to "pédale": -. Private to "pédales": s.

"pédale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pédales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

pédale#14,124
pédales#18,844

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pédale" and "pédales" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pédale" is a noun and "pédales" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pédale" or "pédales"?
"pédale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,124 in our French list, against #18,844 for "pédales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pédale vs pédales

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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