Which to use
“pendule” and “pendules” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,937
- “pendule” frequency rank
- #26,823
- “pendules” frequency rank
- 46760
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pendule | pendules |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tout système constitué d’un corps pesant, un balancier, oscillant autour d’un axe horizontal. | Pluriel de pendule. |
Same sound, different letters: pendule vs pendules
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - pendule / pendules
This is the hard kind. pendule and pendules are pronounced identically (\pɑ̃.dyl\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “pendule” sits inside “pendules”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pendule is recorded at frequency rank #19,937, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɑ̃.dyl\. pendules is at rank #26,823, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɑ̃.dyl\.
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 46760, this pair ranks #192,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pendule vs pendules
Shared letters: delnpu. Private to "pendule": -. Private to "pendules": s.
"pendule" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "pendules" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pendule" for "pendules" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pendule" vs "pendules" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
"pendule" and "pendules" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "pendule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pendules" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pendule" and "pendules" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pécule vs pendule". 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 #192,308 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.