descendezvsdescenduConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,637
“descendez” frequency rank
#10,484
“descendu” frequency rank
44121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descendez descendu
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de descendre. Participe passé masculin singulier de descendre.

Where the eye mixes descendez and descendu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descendez runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against descendu's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
descendez
8 ch
descendu

Visual trap between descendez and descendu

A purely visual mix-up. descendez (\dɛ.sɑ̃.de\) and descendu (\dɛ.sɑ̃.dy\) 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 44121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descendez is recorded at frequency rank #33,637, classified as averb, pronounced \dɛ.sɑ̃.de\. descendu is at rank #10,484, tagged as averb, pronounced \dɛ.sɑ̃.dy\.

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 44121, this pair ranks #212,901 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descendez vs descendu

Shared letters: cdens. Private to "descendez": z. Private to "descendu": u.

"descendez" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descendu" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descendez ← ddescendez · decsendez · desccendez · descednez · descenddez · descendezz · descendze · descenedz
  • descendu ← ddescendu · decsendu · desccendu · descednu · descenddu · descenndu · descenud · descnedu

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "descendez" and "descendu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\dɛ.sɑ̃.de\ versus \dɛ.sɑ̃.dy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "descendez" vs "descendu" - which ranks higher?
"descendu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,484 in our French list, against #33,637 for "descendez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descendez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descendu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #212,901 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descendez" and "descendu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descendez vs descendra". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #212,901 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