décédé vs décerne, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,068
“décédé” frequency rank: #34,068
“décerne” frequency rank: 38136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	décédé	décerne
Definition	Mort. Qui a cessé de vivre.	Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décerner.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décédé and décerne apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

décédé

7 ch

décerne

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décédé is \de.se.de\ while décerne is \de.sɛʁn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décédé is recorded at frequency rank #4,068, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.se.de\. décerne is at rank #34,068, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sɛʁn\.

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 38136, this pair ranks #257,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décédé vs décerne

Shared letters: cdé. Private to "décédé": -. Private to "décerne": enr.

"décédé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "décerne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

décédé#4,068

décerne#34,068

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décédé" and "décerne" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décédé" is an adjective and "décerne" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "décédé" or "décerne"?

"décédé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,068 in our French list, against #34,068 for "décerne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décédé vs décerne

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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