Which to use
“deban” and “debe” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,332
- “deban” frequency rank
- #183
- “debe” frequency rank
- 14515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deban | debe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de deber. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de deber. |
Where the eye mixes deban and debe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between deban and debe
A purely visual mix-up. deban ([ˈd̪eβ̞ãn]) and debe ([ˈd̪eβ̞e]) 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 14515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deban is recorded at frequency rank #14,332, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞ãn]. debe is at rank #183, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞e].
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 14515, this pair ranks #283,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deban vs debe
Shared letters: bde. Private to "deban": an. Private to "debe": -.
"deban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "debe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "deban" and "debe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "deban" or "debe"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "deban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "debe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deban" and "debe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deban 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 #283,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.