Which to use
“décale” is a noun and “décalés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,506
- “décale” frequency rank
- #34,507
- “décalés” frequency rank
- 69013
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décale | décalés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sortie de l’école pour les vacances. | Masculin pluriel de décalé. |
Where the eye mixes décale and décalés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décale runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against décalés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses décale with décalés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décale is \de.kal\ while décalés is \de.ka.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décale is recorded at frequency rank #34,506, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.kal\. décalés is at rank #34,507, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.ka.le\.
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 69013, this pair ranks #56,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décale vs décalés
Shared letters: acdlé. Private to "décale": e. Private to "décalés": s.
"décale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "décalés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décale" for "décalés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "décale" vs "décalés" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décale" and "décalés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décalés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décale" and "décalés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décale vs décimale". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #56,836 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.