décapitervsdécapitésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: décapiter is a verb, décapités is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“décapiter” is a verb and “décapités” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,456
“décapiter” frequency rank
#39,263
“décapités” frequency rank
70719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décapiter décapités
Definition Trancher la tête à une personne avec une épée, une hache (sur le billot), ou au moyen de la guillotine. Masculin pluriel de décapité.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
décapiter
9 ch
décapités

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décapiter and décapités carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ka.pi.te\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, 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 70719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décapiter is recorded at frequency rank #31,456, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ka.pi.te\. décapités is at rank #39,263, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.ka.pi.te\.

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 70719, this pair ranks #50,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décapiter vs décapités

Shared letters: acdipté. Private to "décapiter": er. Private to "décapités": s.

"décapiter" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "décapités" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

décapiter#31,456
décapités#39,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décapiter" and "décapités" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décapiter" is a verb and "décapités" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décapiter" or "décapités"?
"décapiter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,456 in our French list, against #39,263 for "décapités". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décapiter vs décapités

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “décapiter”; for an adjective, it's “décapités”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décapiter” 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