Which to use
“décides” and “désires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,995
- “décides” frequency rank
- #37,301
- “désires” frequency rank
- 56296
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décides | désires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décider. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Where the eye mixes décides and désires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décides and désires follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décides with désires
A purely visual mix-up. décides (\de.sid\) and désires (\de.ziʁ\) 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 56296, 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\. désires is at rank #37,301, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ziʁ\.
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 56296, this pair ranks #121,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décides vs désires
Shared letters: deisé. Private to "décides": c. Private to "désires": r.
"décides" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "désires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décides" for "désires" ever safe?
Which is more common, "décides" or "désires"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décides" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #121,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décides" and "désires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désirées vs désires". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #121,988 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.