Which to use
“décidait” and “décidant” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,522
- “décidait” frequency rank
- #23,842
- “décidant” frequency rank
- 47364
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décidait | décidant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de décider. | Participe présent de décider. |
Where the eye mixes décidait and décidant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décidait (CVCVCVVC) and décidant (CVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between décidait and décidant
A purely visual mix-up. décidait (\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 a single letter - i in “décidait” becomes n in “décidant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décidait is recorded at frequency rank #23,522, 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 47364, this pair ranks #187,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décidait vs décidant
Shared letters: acdité. Private to "décidait": -. Private to "décidant": n.
"décidait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "décidant" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décidait" and "décidant" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "décidait" or "décidant" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décidait" 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 #187,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidait" and "décidant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs décidant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #187,563 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.