Which to use
“deberían” and “deberías” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,339
- “deberían” frequency rank
- #3,313
- “deberías” frequency rank
- 4652
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deberían | deberías |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del condicional de deber. | Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del condicional de deber. |
Where the eye mixes deberían and deberías
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. deberían and deberías follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between deberían and deberías
A purely visual mix-up. deberían ([d̪eβ̞eˈɾiãn]) and deberías ([d̪eβ̞eˈɾias]) 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 a single letter - n in “deberían” becomes s in “deberías”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deberían is recorded at frequency rank #1,339, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eβ̞eˈɾiãn]. deberías is at rank #3,313, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eβ̞eˈɾias].
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 4652, this pair ranks #315,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of deberían vs deberías
Shared letters: abderí. Private to "deberían": n. Private to "deberías": s.
"deberían" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "deberías" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deberían" for "deberías" ever safe?
Which is more common, "deberían" or "deberías"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "deberían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deberías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deberían" and "deberías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deberías vs debías". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #315,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.