Which to use
“debían” is a verb and “debidas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,091
- “debían” frequency rank
- #22,315
- “debidas” frequency rank
- 27406
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debían | debidas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Forma del femenino plural de debido, participio de deber. |
Where the eye mixes debían and debidas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debían with debidas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debían is [d̪eˈβ̞iãn] while debidas is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27406, 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]. debidas is at rank #22,315, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞as].
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 27406, this pair ranks #226,977 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debían vs debidas
Shared letters: abde. Private to "debían": ní. Private to "debidas": is.
"debían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "debidas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- debidas ← dbeidas · ddebidas · debbidas · debdias · debiads · debidass · debiddas · debidsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "debían" and "debidas" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "debían" vs "debidas" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "debían" and "debidas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "debían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "debidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,977 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debían" and "debidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debías vs debidas". 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 #226,977 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.