Which to use
“dábamos” and “debíamos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,541
- “dábamos” frequency rank
- #20,947
- “debíamos” frequency rank
- 57488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dábamos | debíamos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de dar. | Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. |
Where the eye mixes dábamos and debíamos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dábamos runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against debíamos's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dábamos vs debíamos
A purely visual mix-up. dábamos ([ˈd̪aβ̞amos]) and debíamos ([d̪eˈβ̞iamos]) 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 57488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dábamos is recorded at frequency rank #36,541, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪aβ̞amos]. debíamos is at rank #20,947, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞iamos].
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 57488, this pair ranks #70,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dábamos vs debíamos
Shared letters: abdmos. Private to "dábamos": á. Private to "debíamos": eí.
"dábamos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "debíamos" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dábamos" for "debíamos" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dábamos" or "debíamos" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dábamos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "debíamos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dábamos" and "debíamos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dábamos vs dudamos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #70,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.