Which to use
“décédée” is an adjective and “décéder” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,992
- “décédée” frequency rank
- #37,290
- “décéder” frequency rank
- 46282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décédée | décéder |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de décédé. | Mourir, en parlant des personnes. |
Same sound, different letters: décédée vs décéder
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. décédée (CVCVCVV) and décéder (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Ear matches; page differs - décédée and décéder
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décédée and décéder carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.se.de\. 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 46282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décédée is recorded at frequency rank #8,992, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.se.de\. décéder is at rank #37,290, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.se.de\.
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 46282, this pair ranks #196,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décédée vs décéder
Shared letters: cdeé. Private to "décédée": -. Private to "décéder": r.
"décédée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "décéder" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décédée" and "décéder" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décédée" or "décéder"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "décédée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décéder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décédée" and "décéder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs décéder". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #196,163 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.