décèdentvsdécédésWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#48,462
“décèdent” frequency rank
#18,181
“décédés” frequency rank
66643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décèdent décédés
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décéder. Masculin pluriel de décédé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décèdent and décédés apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
décèdent
7 ch
décédés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décèdent is \de.sɛd\ while décédés is \de.se.de\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décèdent is recorded at frequency rank #48,462, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sɛd\. décédés is at rank #18,181, tagged as anadj, 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 66643, this pair ranks #66,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décèdent vs décédés

Shared letters: cdé. Private to "décèdent": entè. Private to "décédés": s.

"décèdent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "décédés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

décèdent#48,462
décédés#18,181

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décèdent" and "décédés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décèdent" is a verb and "décédés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décèdent" or "décédés"?
"décédés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,181 in our French list, against #48,462 for "décèdent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décèdent vs décédés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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