décédéesvsdécidesTell them apart

Quick tell: décédées is a adjective, décides is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#34,995
“décédées” frequency rank
#18,995
“décides” frequency rank
53990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décédées décides
Definition Féminin pluriel de décédé. Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décider.

Where the eye mixes décédées and décides

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décédées runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against décides's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
décédées
7 ch
décides

Look-alike desk: décédées vs décides

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décédées is \de.se.de\ while décides is \de.sid\. 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 53990, 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\. décides is at rank #18,995, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sid\.

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 53990, this pair ranks #137,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décédées vs décides

Shared letters: cdesé. Private to "décédées": -. Private to "décides": i.

"décédées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "décides" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décédées" and "décides" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décédées" is an adjective and "décides" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "décédées" vs "décides" - which ranks higher?
"décides" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,995 in our French list, against #34,995 for "décédées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "décédées" and "décides" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décédées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décides" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #137,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décédées" and "décides" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décédées vs décèdent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #137,037 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list