Which to use
“debía” and “debías” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,978
- “debía” frequency rank
- #44,095
- “debías” frequency rank
- 46073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debía | debías |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. |
Where the eye mixes debía and debías
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. debía runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against debías's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: debía vs debías
A purely visual mix-up. debía ([d̪eˈβ̞ia]) and debías ([d̪eˈβ̞ias]) 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 extra letter(s) - “debía” sits inside “debías”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debía is recorded at frequency rank #1,978, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ia]. debías is at rank #44,095, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ias].
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 46073, this pair ranks #127,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debía vs debías
Shared letters: abdeí. Private to "debía": -. Private to "debías": s.
"debía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "debías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debía" for "debías" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debía" or "debías" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "debía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "debías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debía" and "debías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debías vs Denia". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #127,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.