décrochentvsdécrocherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,812
“décrochent” frequency rank
#9,646
“décrocher” frequency rank
46458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décrochent décrocher
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décrocher. Détacher une chose qui était accrochée.

Where the eye mixes décrochent and décrocher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décrochent runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against décrocher's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
décrochent
9 ch
décrocher

Why the eye confuses décrochent with décrocher

A purely visual mix-up. décrochent (\de.kʁɔʃ\) and décrocher (\de.kʁɔ.ʃe\) 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 46458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décrochent is recorded at frequency rank #36,812, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kʁɔʃ\. décrocher is at rank #9,646, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kʁɔ.ʃe\.

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 46458, this pair ranks #194,784 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décrochent vs décrocher

Shared letters: cdehoré. Private to "décrochent": nt. Private to "décrocher": -.

"décrochent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "décrocher" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décrochent" for "décrocher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.kʁɔʃ\ versus \de.kʁɔ.ʃe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décrochent" or "décrocher"?
"décrocher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,646 in our French list, against #36,812 for "décrochent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décrochent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décrocher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,784 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décrochent" and "décrocher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décrochant vs décrochent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #194,784 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list