Which to use
“décidait” and “désirait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,522
- “décidait” frequency rank
- #22,245
- “désirait” frequency rank
- 45767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décidait | désirait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de décider. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Where the eye mixes décidait and désirait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décidait and désirait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décidait with désirait
A purely visual mix-up. décidait (\de.si.dɛ\) and désirait (\de.zi.ʁɛ\) 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 45767, 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\. désirait is at rank #22,245, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁɛ\.
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 45767, this pair ranks #200,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décidait vs désirait
Shared letters: adité. Private to "décidait": c. Private to "désirait": rs.
"décidait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "désirait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décidait" and "désirait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "décidait" vs "désirait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "désirait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #200,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidait" and "désirait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidaient vs décidait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #200,190 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.