Which to use
“décédés” is an adjective and “décides” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,181
- “décédés” frequency rank
- #18,995
- “décides” frequency rank
- 37176
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décédés | décides |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de décédé. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décider. |
Where the eye mixes décédés and décides
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décédés and décides follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décédés vs décides
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décédés is \de.se.de\ while décides is \de.sid\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décédés is recorded at frequency rank #18,181, 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 37176, this pair ranks #264,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décédés vs décides
Shared letters: cdsé. Private to "décédés": -. Private to "décides": ei.
"décédés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "décides" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décédés" and "décides" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "décédés" or "décides"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décédés" 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 #264,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décédés" and "décides" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs décédés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #264,335 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.