debe vs deli, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“debe” is a verb and “deli” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#183
“debe” frequency rank: #49,566
“deli” frequency rank: 49749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	debe	deli
Definition	Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de deber.	Delicioso.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set debe and deli apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

debe

4 ch

deli

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debe is [ˈd̪eβ̞e] while deli is [ˈd̪eli]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

debe is recorded at frequency rank #183, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞e]. deli is at rank #49,566, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪eli].

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 49749, this pair ranks #107,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of debe vs deli

Shared letters: de. Private to "debe": b. Private to "deli": il.

"debe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "deli" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

debe ← dbee · ddebe · debbe · deeb · deve · edbe
deli ← ddeli · delli · dlei

Frequency comparison

debe#183

deli#49,566

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "debe" and "deli" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "debe" is a verb and "deli" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "debe" or "deli"?

"debe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #183 in our Spanish list, against #49,566 for "deli". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering debe vs deli

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “debe”; for an adjective, it's “deli”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “debe” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable