Which to use
“décrivait” and “décrivent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,525
- “décrivait” frequency rank
- #14,913
- “décrivent” frequency rank
- 43438
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décrivait | décrivent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de décrire. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de décrire. |
Where the eye mixes décrivait and décrivent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décrivait (CVCCVCVVC) and décrivent (CVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses décrivait with décrivent
A purely visual mix-up. décrivait (\de.kʁi.vɛ\) and décrivent (\de.kʁiv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décrivait is recorded at frequency rank #28,525, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kʁi.vɛ\. décrivent is at rank #14,913, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kʁiv\.
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 43438, this pair ranks #218,060 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décrivait vs décrivent
Shared letters: cdirtvé. Private to "décrivait": a. Private to "décrivent": en.
"décrivait" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC · "décrivent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décrivait" and "décrivent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "décrivait" vs "décrivent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "décrivait" and "décrivent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décrivait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décrivent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #218,060 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décrivait" and "décrivent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décrivait vs dérivant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #218,060 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.