Which to use
“décalée” is an adjective and “décalées” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,289
- “décalée” frequency rank
- #41,747
- “décalées” frequency rank
- 67036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalée | décalées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de décalé. | Participe passé féminin pluriel de décaler. |
Same sound, different letters: décalée vs décalées
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. décalée runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against décalées's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - décalée / décalées
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décalée and décalées carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ka.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “décalée” sits inside “décalées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décalée is recorded at frequency rank #25,289, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ka.le\. décalées is at rank #41,747, tagged as averb, 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 67036, this pair ranks #65,183 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décalée vs décalées
Shared letters: acdelé. Private to "décalée": -. Private to "décalées": s.
"décalée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "décalées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décalée" and "décalées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "décalée" or "décalées" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "décalée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décalées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,183 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalée" and "décalées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décalages vs décalées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #65,183 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.