Which to use
“debían” and “debido” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,091
- “debían” frequency rank
- #479
- “debido” frequency rank
- 5570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debían | debido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Participio de deber. |
Where the eye mixes debían and debido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debían with debido
A purely visual mix-up. debían ([d̪eˈβ̞iãn]) and debido ([d̪eˈβ̞ið̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5570, 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]. debido is at rank #479, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞o].
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 5570, this pair ranks #313,284 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debían vs debido
Shared letters: bde. Private to "debían": aní. Private to "debido": io.
"debían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "debido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- debido ← dbeido · ddebido · debbido · debdio · debiddo · debiod · deibdo · devido
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debían" and "debido" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "debían" vs "debido" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "debían" and "debido" 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 "debido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,284 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debían" and "debido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debían vs definan". 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 #313,284 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.