debanvsdejenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“deban” and “dejen” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,332
“deban” frequency rank
#2,286
“dejen” frequency rank
16618
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deban dejen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de deber. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dejar o de dejarse.

Where the eye mixes deban and dejen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
deban
5 ch
dejen

Why the eye confuses deban with dejen

A purely visual mix-up. deban ([ˈd̪eβ̞ãn]) and dejen ([ˈd̪exẽn]) 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 16618, 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]. dejen is at rank #2,286, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪exẽn].

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 16618, this pair ranks #275,411 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deban vs dejen

Shared letters: den. Private to "deban": ab. Private to "dejen": j.

"deban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "dejen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debandbean · ddeban · deabn · debann · debban · debna · devan · edban
  • dejenddejen · deejn · dejenn · dejjen · dejne · djeen · edjen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "deban" and "dejen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪eβ̞ãn] versus [ˈd̪exẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "deban" or "dejen"?
"dejen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,286 in our Spanish list, against #14,332 for "deban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "deban" and "dejen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dejen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #275,411 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deban" and "dejen" 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 #275,411 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list