Which to use
“décalage” and “décale” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,427
- “décalage” frequency rank
- #34,506
- “décale” frequency rank
- 41933
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalage | décale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de décaler ou résultat de cette action. | Sortie de l’école pour les vacances. |
Where the eye mixes décalage and décale
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décalage runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against décale's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between décalage and décale
A purely visual mix-up. décalage (\de.ka.laʒ\) and décale (\de.kal\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décalage is recorded at frequency rank #7,427, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ka.laʒ\. décale is at rank #34,506, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.kal\.
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 41933, this pair ranks #229,472 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décalage vs décale
Shared letters: acdelé. Private to "décalage": g. Private to "décale": -.
"décalage" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "décale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décalage" and "décale" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décalage" or "décale"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décalage" and "décale" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décalage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,472 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalage" and "décale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décale vs décimale". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #229,472 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.