décaléevsdécalésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“décalée” and “décalés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,289
“décalée” frequency rank
#34,507
“décalés” frequency rank
59796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décalée décalés
Definition Féminin singulier de décalé. Masculin pluriel de décalé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décalée and décalés apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
décalée
7 ch
décalés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. décalée and décalés are pronounced identically (\de.ka.le\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - e in “décalée” becomes s in “décalés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59796, 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\. 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 59796, this pair ranks #101,138 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décalée vs décalés

Shared letters: acdlé. Private to "décalée": e. Private to "décalés": s.

"décalée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "décalés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

décalée#25,289
décalés#34,507

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décalée" and "décalés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\de.ka.le\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "décalée" or "décalés"?
"décalée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,289 in our French list, against #34,507 for "décalés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décalée vs décalés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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