décidaientvsdécidantWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,851
“décidaient” frequency rank
#23,842
“décidant” frequency rank
71693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décidaient décidant
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de décider. Participe présent de décider.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décidaient and décidant apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
décidaient
8 ch
décidant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. décidaient (\de.si.dɛ\) and décidant (\de.si.dɑ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décidaient is recorded at frequency rank #47,851, classified as averb, pronounced \de.si.dɛ\. décidant is at rank #23,842, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.si.dɑ̃\.

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 71693, this pair ranks #46,661 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décidaient vs décidant

Shared letters: acdinté. Private to "décidaient": e. Private to "décidant": -.

"décidaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC  ·  "décidant" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

décidaient#47,851
décidant#23,842

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décidaient" and "décidant" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.si.dɛ\ versus \de.si.dɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décidaient" or "décidant"?
"décidant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,842 in our French list, against #47,851 for "décidaient". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décidaient vs décidant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décidaient” 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