décidentvsdeciderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“décident” and “decider” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,605
“décident” frequency rank
#41,731
“decider” frequency rank
48336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décident decider
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décider. Décider.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décident and decider apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
décident
7 ch
decider

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. décident (\de.sid\) and decider (\de.t͡si.ˈdɛr\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décident is recorded at frequency rank #6,605, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sid\. decider is at rank #41,731, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.t͡si.ˈdɛr\.

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 48336, this pair ranks #179,736 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décident vs decider

Shared letters: cdei. Private to "décident": nté. Private to "decider": r.

"décident" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "decider" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deciderdceider · ddecider · deccider · decdier · decidder · deciderr · decidre · deciedr

Frequency comparison

décident#6,605
decider#41,731

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décident" and "decider" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.sid\ versus \de.t͡si.ˈdɛr\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décident" or "decider"?
"décident" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,605 in our French list, against #41,731 for "decider". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décident vs decider

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décident” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list