Which to use
“dear” is an adjective and “decí” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,148
- “dear” frequency rank
- #42,935
- “decí” frequency rank
- 82083
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dear | decí |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Querido. | Segunda persona del singular (vos) del imperativo afirmativo de decir. |
Where the eye mixes dear and decí
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. dear (CVVC) and decí (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: dear vs decí
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dear is /dɪə/ while decí is [d̪eˈsi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dear is recorded at frequency rank #39,148, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɪə/. decí is at rank #42,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsi].
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 82083, this pair ranks #9,625 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dear vs decí
Shared letters: de. Private to "dear": ar. Private to "decí": cí.
"dear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "decí" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dear ← ddear · dearr · dera · edar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dear" and "decí" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dear" vs "decí" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,625 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dear" and "decí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decí vs Deva". 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 #9,625 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.