Which to use
“descendit” and “descendue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,269
- “descendit” frequency rank
- #24,173
- “descendue” frequency rank
- 61442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | descendit | descendue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de descendre. | Participe passé féminin singulier de descendre. |
Where the eye mixes descendit and descendue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descendit (CVCCVCCVC) and descendue (CVCCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: descendit vs descendue
A purely visual mix-up. descendit (\dɛ.sɑ̃.di\) and descendue (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
descendit is recorded at frequency rank #37,269, classified as averb, pronounced \dɛ.sɑ̃.di\. descendue is at rank #24,173, 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 61442, this pair ranks #92,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of descendit vs descendue
Shared letters: cdens. Private to "descendit": it. Private to "descendue": u.
"descendit" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "descendue" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "descendit" for "descendue" ever safe?
Which is more common, "descendit" or "descendue"?
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 "descendit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "descendue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #92,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "descendit" and "descendue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descendit 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 #92,267 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.