décisionsvsdécisivesTell them apart

Quick tell: décisions is a noun, décisives is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“décisions” is a noun and “décisives” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,221
“décisions” frequency rank
#14,021
“décisives” frequency rank
16242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décisions décisives
Definition Pluriel de décision. Féminin pluriel de décisif.

Where the eye mixes décisions and décisives

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décisions (CVCVCVVCC) and décisives (CVCVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
décisions
9 ch
décisives

Look-alike desk: décisions vs décisives

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décisions is \de.si.zjɔ̃\ while décisives is \de.si.ziv\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décisions is recorded at frequency rank #2,221, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.si.zjɔ̃\. décisives is at rank #14,021, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.si.ziv\.

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 16242, this pair ranks #388,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of décisions vs décisives

Shared letters: cdisé. Private to "décisions": no. Private to "décisives": ev.

"décisions" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC  ·  "décisives" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décisions" for "décisives" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décisions" is a noun and "décisives" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décisions" or "décisives"?
"décisions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,221 in our French list, against #14,021 for "décisives". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décisions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décisives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #388,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décisions" and "décisives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décisions vs disions". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #388,737 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list