Which to use
“décident” and “décrivent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,605
- “décident” frequency rank
- #14,913
- “décrivent” frequency rank
- 21518
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décident | décrivent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décider. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de décrire. |
Where the eye mixes décident and décrivent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décident runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against décrivent's 9 (CVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses décident with décrivent
A purely visual mix-up. décident (\de.sid\) and décrivent (\de.kʁiv\) 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 21518, 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\. décrivent is at rank #14,913, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kʁiv\.
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 21518, this pair ranks #362,756 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of décident vs décrivent
Shared letters: cdeinté. Private to "décident": -. Private to "décrivent": rv.
"décident" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "décrivent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décident" for "décrivent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "décident" or "décrivent" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décident" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décrivent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,756 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décident" and "décrivent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décrivent vs dérivant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #362,756 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.