declare vs décrire, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#49,591
“declare” frequency rank: #4,751
“décrire” frequency rank: 54342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	declare	décrire
Definition	Déclarer.	Représenter, dépeindre dans son ensemble une personne, une chose, soit par écrit, soit de vive voix.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set declare and décrire apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

declare

7 ch

décrire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. declare ([dɪˈkleər]) and décrire (\de.kʁiʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

declare is recorded at frequency rank #49,591, classified as averb, pronounced [dɪˈkleər]. décrire is at rank #4,751, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kʁiʁ\.

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 54342, this pair ranks #134,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of declare vs décrire

Shared letters: cder. Private to "declare": al. Private to "décrire": ié.

"declare" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "décrire" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

declare ← dcelare · ddeclare · decalre · decclare · declaer · declarre · decllare · declrae

Frequency comparison

declare#49,591

décrire#4,751

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "declare" and "décrire" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([dɪˈkleər] versus \de.kʁiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "declare" or "décrire"?

"décrire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,751 in our French list, against #49,591 for "declare". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering declare vs décrire

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 “declare” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable