décaléevsdécaléesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: décalée is a adjective, décalées is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décalée and décalées apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
décalée
8 ch
décalées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

décalée#25,289
décalées#41,747

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décalée" and "décalées" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décalée" is an adjective and "décalées" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décalée" or "décalées"?
"décalée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,289 in our French list, against #41,747 for "décalées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décalée vs décalées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “décalée”; for a verb, it's “décalées”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décalée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list