Which to use
“décides” is a verb and “décideur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,995
- “décides” frequency rank
- #44,994
- “décideur” frequency rank
- 63989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décides | décideur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décider. | Personne qui décide. |
Where the eye mixes décides and décideur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between décides and décideur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décides is \de.sid\ while décideur is \de.si.dœʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décides is recorded at frequency rank #18,995, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sid\. décideur is at rank #44,994, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.si.dœʁ\.
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 63989, this pair ranks #79,231 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décides vs décideur
Shared letters: cdeié. Private to "décides": s. Private to "décideur": ru.
"décides" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "décideur" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décides" and "décideur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décides" or "décideur"?
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 "décides" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décideur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,231 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décides" and "décideur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décideur vs décodeurs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #79,231 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.