Which to use
“debe” and “decae” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #183
- “debe” frequency rank
- #48,929
- “decae” frequency rank
- 49112
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debe | decae |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de deber. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decaer. |
Where the eye mixes debe and decae
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. debe runs 4 letters (CVCV) against decae's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: debe vs decae
A purely visual mix-up. debe ([ˈd̪eβ̞e]) and decae ([d̪eˈkae]) 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 49112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debe is recorded at frequency rank #183, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞e]. decae is at rank #48,929, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈkae].
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 49112, this pair ranks #110,656 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debe vs decae
Shared letters: de. Private to "debe": b. Private to "decae": ac.
"debe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "decae" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debe" for "decae" ever safe?
Frequency check: "debe" vs "decae" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "debe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #110,656 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debe" and "decae" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decae 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 #110,656 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.