décriventvsdécrivezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,913
“décrivent” frequency rank
#36,359
“décrivez” frequency rank
51272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décrivent décrivez
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de décrire. Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décrire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décrivent and décrivez apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
décrivent
8 ch
décrivez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. décrivent (\de.kʁiv\) 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 51272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décrivent is recorded at frequency rank #14,913, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kʁiv\. 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 51272, this pair ranks #156,285 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décrivent vs décrivez

Shared letters: cdeirvé. Private to "décrivent": nt. Private to "décrivez": z.

"décrivent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC  ·  "décrivez" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

décrivent#14,913
décrivez#36,359

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décrivent" and "décrivez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.kʁiv\ versus \de.kʁi.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décrivent" or "décrivez"?
"décrivent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,913 in our French list, against #36,359 for "décrivez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décrivent vs décrivez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décrivent” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list