debanvsdenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,332
“deban” frequency rank
#2,020
“den” frequency rank
16352
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deban den
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 dar o de darse.

Where the eye mixes deban and den

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

5 ch
deban
3 ch
den

Why the eye confuses deban with den

A purely visual mix-up. deban ([ˈd̪eβ̞ãn]) and den ([ˈd̪ẽn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16352, 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]. den is at rank #2,020, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽn].

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 16352, this pair ranks #276,517 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deban vs den

Shared letters: den. Private to "deban": ab. Private to "den": -.

"deban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "den" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debandbean · ddeban · deabn · debann · debban · debna · devan · edban

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deban" and "den" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪eβ̞ãn] versus [ˈd̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "deban" or "den"?
"den" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,020 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "deban" and "den" 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 "den" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #276,517 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deban" and "den" 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 #276,517 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