décrètevsdécrétéeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,554
“décrète” frequency rank
#36,360
“décrétée” frequency rank
60914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décrète décrétée
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décréter. Participe passé féminin singulier de décréter.

Where the eye mixes décrète and décrétée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décrète runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against décrétée's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
décrète
8 ch
décrétée

Look-alike desk: décrète vs décrétée

A purely visual mix-up. décrète (\de.kʁɛt\) and décrétée (\de.kʁe.te\) 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 60914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décrète is recorded at frequency rank #24,554, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kʁɛt\. décrétée is at rank #36,360, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kʁe.te\.

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 60914, this pair ranks #95,124 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décrète vs décrétée

Shared letters: cderté. Private to "décrète": è. Private to "décrétée": -.

"décrète" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "décrétée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décrète" and "décrétée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.kʁɛt\ versus \de.kʁe.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "décrète" or "décrétée" show up more?
"décrète" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,554 in our French list, against #36,360 for "décrétée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "décrète" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décrétée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #95,124 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décrète" and "décrétée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décrétée vs décriée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #95,124 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