décrisvsdécritWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: décris is a noun, décrit is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“décris” is a noun and “décrit” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,189
“décris” frequency rank
#2,516
“décrit” frequency rank
26705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décris décrit
Definition Pluriel de décri. Dépeint, exprimé oralement ou par écrit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décris and décrit apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
décris
6 ch
décrit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décris and décrit carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.kʁi\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - s in “décris” becomes t in “décrit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décris is recorded at frequency rank #24,189, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.kʁi\. 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 26705, this pair ranks #333,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of décris vs décrit

Shared letters: cdiré. Private to "décris": s. Private to "décrit": t.

"décris" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "décrit" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

décris#24,189
décrit#2,516

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décris" and "décrit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décris" is a noun and "décrit" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "décris" or "décrit"?
"décrit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,516 in our French list, against #24,189 for "décris". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décris vs décrit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “décris”; for an adjective, it's “décrit”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décris” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list