Which to use
“décidaient” and “décident” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,851
- “décidaient” frequency rank
- #6,605
- “décident” frequency rank
- 54456
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décidaient | décident |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de décider. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décider. |
Where the eye mixes décidaient and décident
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décidaient runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVVCC) against décident's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses décidaient with décident
A purely visual mix-up. décidaient (\de.si.dɛ\) and décident (\de.sid\) 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 54456, 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\. décident is at rank #6,605, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sid\.
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 54456, this pair ranks #133,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décidaient vs décident
Shared letters: cdeinté. Private to "décidaient": a. Private to "décident": -.
"décidaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC · "décident" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décidaient" and "décident" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décidaient" or "décident"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "décidaient" and "décident" 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 "décident" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidaient" and "décident" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidaient vs désiraient". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #133,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.