Which to use
“décrire” and “décrivez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,751
- “décrire” frequency rank
- #36,359
- “décrivez” frequency rank
- 41110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décrire | décrivez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Représenter, dépeindre dans son ensemble une personne, une chose, soit par écrit, soit de vive voix. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décrire. |
Where the eye mixes décrire and décrivez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décrire runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against décrivez's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses décrire with décrivez
A purely visual mix-up. décrire (\de.kʁiʁ\) and décrivez (\de.kʁi.ve\) 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 41110, 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\. décrivez is at rank #36,359, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kʁi.ve\.
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 41110, this pair ranks #235,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décrire vs décrivez
Shared letters: cdeiré. Private to "décrire": -. Private to "décrivez": vz.
"décrire" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "décrivez" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décrire" and "décrivez" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "décrire" vs "décrivez" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "décrire" and "décrivez" 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 "décrivez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décrire" and "décrivez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décriée vs décrivez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #235,500 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.