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 eye mixes décidaient and décidant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décidaient runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVVCC) against décidant's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between décidaient and décidant
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décidaient" and "décidant" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "décidaient" or "décidant"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "décidaient" and "décidant" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décidaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décidant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,661 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidaient" and "décidant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidaient vs désiraient". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #46,661 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.