Which to use
“deber” and “dejen” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,112
- “deber” frequency rank
- #2,286
- “dejen” frequency rank
- 5398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deber | dejen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (seguido del infinitivo) Estar o verse obligado de hacer algo. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dejar o de dejarse. |
Where the eye mixes deber and dejen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between deber and dejen
A purely visual mix-up. deber ([d̪eˈβ̞eɾ]) 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 5398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deber is recorded at frequency rank #3,112, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞eɾ]. 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 5398, this pair ranks #313,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deber vs dejen
Shared letters: de. Private to "deber": br. Private to "dejen": jn.
"deber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dejen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "deber" and "dejen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "deber" or "dejen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "deber" 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 #313,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deber" and "dejen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dejen vs déjense". 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 #313,725 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.