décernésvsdécoréesConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#35,476
“décernés” frequency rank
#24,945
“décorées” frequency rank
60421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décernés décorées
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de décerner. Féminin pluriel de décoré.

Where the eye mixes décernés and décorées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décernés (CVCVCCVC) and décorées (CVCVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
décernés
8 ch
décorées

Visual trap between décernés and décorées

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décernés is \de.sɛʁ.ne\ while décorées is \de.kɔ.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décernés is recorded at frequency rank #35,476, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sɛʁ.ne\. décorées is at rank #24,945, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.kɔ.ʁe\.

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 60421, this pair ranks #97,679 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décernés vs décorées

Shared letters: cdersé. Private to "décernés": n. Private to "décorées": o.

"décernés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "décorées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décernés" and "décorées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décernés" is a verb and "décorées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décernés" or "décorées"?
"décorées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,945 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "décernés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décorées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #97,679 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décernés" and "décorées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs décernés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #97,679 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