Which to use
“deberse” and “debes” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,458
- “deberse” frequency rank
- #1,504
- “debes” frequency rank
- 25962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deberse | debes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ser la consecuencia de. | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de deber. |
Where the eye mixes deberse and debes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. deberse runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against debes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: deberse vs debes
A purely visual mix-up. deberse ([d̪eˈβ̞eɾse]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deberse is recorded at frequency rank #24,458, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞eɾse]. 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 25962, this pair ranks #233,992 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deberse vs debes
Shared letters: bdes. Private to "deberse": r. Private to "debes": -.
"deberse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "debes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deberse" and "debes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "deberse" vs "debes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "deberse" 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 #233,992 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deberse" and "debes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deberse 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 #233,992 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.