Which to use
“décidément” is an adverb and “décidèrent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,428
- “décidément” frequency rank
- #25,290
- “décidèrent” frequency rank
- 32718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décidément | décidèrent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | D’une manière décidée, ferme. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de décider. |
Where the eye mixes décidément and décidèrent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décidément and décidèrent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décidément vs décidèrent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décidément is \de.si.de.mɑ̃\ while décidèrent is \de.si.dɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décidément is recorded at frequency rank #7,428, classified as anadv, pronounced \de.si.de.mɑ̃\. 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 32718, this pair ranks #295,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décidément vs décidèrent
Shared letters: cdeinté. Private to "décidément": m. Private to "décidèrent": rè.
"décidément" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC · "décidèrent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décidément" and "décidèrent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "décidément" vs "décidèrent" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décidément" 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 #295,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidément" and "décidèrent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidaient vs décidèrent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #295,399 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.