Which to use
“décalées” and “décaler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,747
- “décalées” frequency rank
- #25,977
- “décaler” frequency rank
- 67724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalées | décaler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin pluriel de décaler. | Enlever la cale à ; changer l’équilibre, l’aplomb. |
Same sound, different letters: décalées vs décaler
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. décalées runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against décaler's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: décalées vs décaler
This is the hard kind. décalées and décaler are pronounced identically (\de.ka.le\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décalées is recorded at frequency rank #41,747, classified as averb, 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 67724, this pair ranks #62,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décalées vs décaler
Shared letters: acdelé. Private to "décalées": s. Private to "décaler": r.
"décalées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "décaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décalées" for "décaler" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "décalées" or "décaler" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "décalées" / "décaler". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "décalées" 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 #62,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalées" and "décaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décalages vs décalées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #62,173 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.