Which to use
“debían” is a verb and “debida” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,091
- “debían” frequency rank
- #11,385
- “debida” frequency rank
- 16476
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debían | debida |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Forma del femenino de debido, participio de deber. |
Where the eye mixes debían and debida
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debían with debida
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debían is [d̪eˈβ̞iãn] while debida is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debían is recorded at frequency rank #5,091, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞iãn]. debida is at rank #11,385, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞a].
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 16476, this pair ranks #276,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debían vs debida
Shared letters: abde. Private to "debían": ní. Private to "debida": i.
"debían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "debida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- debida ← dbeida · ddebida · debbida · debdia · debiad · debidda · deibda · devida
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debían" for "debida" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debían" or "debida" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "debían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "debida" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debían" and "debida" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debida vs dolida". 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 #276,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.