Which to use
“déchue” is an adjective and “découle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,837
- “déchue” frequency rank
- #11,390
- “découle” frequency rank
- 54227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déchue | découle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de déchu. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de découler. |
Where the eye mixes déchue and découle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. déchue runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against découle's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses déchue with découle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déchue is \de.ʃy\ while découle is \de.kul\. 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 54227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déchue is recorded at frequency rank #42,837, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ʃy\. découle is at rank #11,390, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kul\.
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 54227, this pair ranks #135,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déchue vs découle
Shared letters: cdeué. Private to "déchue": h. Private to "découle": lo.
"déchue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "découle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déchue" for "découle" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "déchue" or "découle" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déchue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déchue" and "découle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déchue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #135,399 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.