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. |
Same sound, different letters: pédale vs pédales
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. pédale runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against pédales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - pédale and pédales
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pédale" and "pédales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "pédale" or "pédales" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "pédale" / "pédales". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "pédale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pédales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pédale" and "pédales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pédales vs pédalier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #293,755 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.