Which to use
“deberá” and “debes” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,821
- “deberá” frequency rank
- #1,504
- “debes” frequency rank
- 4325
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deberá | debes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de deber. | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de deber. |
Where the eye mixes deberá and debes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses deberá with debes
A purely visual mix-up. deberá ([d̪eβ̞eˈɾa]) and debes ([ˈd̪eβ̞es]) 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 4325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deberá is recorded at frequency rank #2,821, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eβ̞eˈɾa]. debes is at rank #1,504, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞es].
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 4325, this pair ranks #316,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deberá vs debes
Shared letters: bde. Private to "deberá": rá. Private to "debes": s.
"deberá" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "debes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- debes ← dbees · ddebes · debbes · debess · debse · deebs · deves · edbes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deberá" for "debes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "deberá" vs "debes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "deberá" and "debes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deberá" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "debes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deberá" and "debes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debes vs debías". 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 #316,358 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.