Which to use
“découle” and “découper” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,390
- “découle” frequency rank
- #15,361
- “découper” frequency rank
- 26751
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découle | découper |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de découler. | Couper par morceaux une pièce de viande ou détacher un à un les membres d’une pièce de volaille, de gibier. |
Where the eye mixes découle and découper
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. découle runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against découper's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between découle and découper
A purely visual mix-up. découle (\de.kul\) and découper (\de.ku.pe\) 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 26751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
découle is recorded at frequency rank #11,390, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kul\. découper is at rank #15,361, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ku.pe\.
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 26751, this pair ranks #333,059 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of découle vs découper
Shared letters: cdeoué. Private to "découle": l. Private to "découper": pr.
"découle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "découper" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "découle" and "découper" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "découle" or "découper" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "découle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,059 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découle" and "découper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "découper vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #333,059 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.