Which to use
“décédées” is an adjective and “décéder” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,995
- “décédées” frequency rank
- #37,290
- “décéder” frequency rank
- 72285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décédées | décéder |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de décédé. | Mourir, en parlant des personnes. |
Same sound, different letters: décédées vs décéder
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. décédées runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against décéder's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: décédées vs décéder
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décédées 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décédées is recorded at frequency rank #34,995, 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 72285, this pair ranks #44,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décédées vs décéder
Shared letters: cdeé. Private to "décédées": s. Private to "décéder": r.
"décédées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "décéder" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décédées" and "décéder" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décédées" or "décéder"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "décédées" 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 #44,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décédées" and "décéder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs décéder". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #44,528 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.