décernevsdécernésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“décerne” and “décernés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,068
“décerne” frequency rank
#35,476
“décernés” frequency rank
69544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décerne décernés
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décerner. Participe passé masculin pluriel de décerner.

Where the eye mixes décerne and décernés

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

7 ch
décerne
8 ch
décernés

Visual trap between décerne and décernés

A purely visual mix-up. décerne (\de.sɛʁn\) and décernés (\de.sɛʁ.ne\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décerne is recorded at frequency rank #34,068, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sɛʁn\. décernés is at rank #35,476, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sɛʁ.ne\.

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 69544, this pair ranks #54,696 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décerne vs décernés

Shared letters: cdenré. Private to "décerne": -. Private to "décernés": s.

"décerne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "décernés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décerne" and "décernés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.sɛʁn\ versus \de.sɛʁ.ne\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "décerne" vs "décernés" - which ranks higher?
"décerne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,068 in our French list, against #35,476 for "décernés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décerne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décernés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,696 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décerne" and "décernés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs décernés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #54,696 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