Which to use
“décrire” is a verb and “décrit” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,751
- “décrire” frequency rank
- #2,516
- “décrit” frequency rank
- 7267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décrire | décrit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Représenter, dépeindre dans son ensemble une personne, une chose, soit par écrit, soit de vive voix. | Dépeint, exprimé oralement ou par écrit. |
Where the eye mixes décrire and décrit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between décrire and décrit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décrire is \de.kʁiʁ\ while décrit is \de.kʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décrire is recorded at frequency rank #4,751, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kʁiʁ\. décrit is at rank #2,516, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.kʁi\.
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 7267, this pair ranks #423,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of décrire vs décrit
Shared letters: cdiré. Private to "décrire": e. Private to "décrit": t.
"décrire" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "décrit" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décrire" for "décrit" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "décrire" or "décrit" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décrire" and "décrit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décrire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décrit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #423,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décrire" and "décrit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "declare vs décrire". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #423,670 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.