Which to use
“décalée” is an adjective and “décaler” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,289
- “décalée” frequency rank
- #25,977
- “décaler” frequency rank
- 51266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalée | décaler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de décalé. | Enlever la cale à ; changer l’équilibre, l’aplomb. |
Same sound, different letters: décalée vs décaler
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. décalée (CVCVCVV) and décaler (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Homophone desk: décalée vs décaler
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décalée and décaler 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51266, 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\. décaler is at rank #25,977, 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 51266, this pair ranks #156,337 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décalée vs décaler
Shared letters: acdelé. Private to "décalée": -. Private to "décaler": r.
"décalée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "décaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décalée" and "décaler" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "décalée" or "décaler" show up more?
After this comparison
"décalée" and "décaler" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "décalée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #156,337 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalée" and "décaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décalée vs décriée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #156,337 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.