Which to use
“décidaient” and “décidèrent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,851
- “décidaient” frequency rank
- #25,290
- “décidèrent” frequency rank
- 73141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décidaient | décidèrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait de décider. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de décider. |
Where the eye mixes décidaient and décidèrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décidaient (CVCVCVVVCC) and décidèrent (CVCVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: décidaient vs décidèrent
A purely visual mix-up. décidaient (\de.si.dɛ\) and décidèrent (\de.si.dɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73141, 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\. décidèrent is at rank #25,290, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.si.dɛʁ\.
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 73141, this pair ranks #41,478 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décidaient vs décidèrent
Shared letters: cdeinté. Private to "décidaient": a. Private to "décidèrent": rè.
"décidaient" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCC · "décidèrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décidaient" for "décidèrent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "décidaient" or "décidèrent" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décidaient" and "décidèrent" 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 "décidèrent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,478 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidaient" and "décidèrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidaient vs désiraient". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,478 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.