Which to use
“deban” and “desean” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,332
- “deban” frequency rank
- #5,818
- “desean” frequency rank
- 20150
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deban | desean |
|---|---|---|
| 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 indicativo de desear. |
Where the eye mixes deban and desean
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. deban runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against desean's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: deban vs desean
A purely visual mix-up. deban ([ˈd̪eβ̞ãn]) and desean ([d̪eˈseãn]) 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 20150, 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]. desean is at rank #5,818, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈseãn].
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 20150, this pair ranks #260,580 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deban vs desean
Shared letters: aden. Private to "deban": b. Private to "desean": s.
"deban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "desean" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deban" and "desean" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "deban" vs "desean" - 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 "deban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desean" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,580 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deban" and "desean" 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 #260,580 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.