Which to use
“debían” and “debió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,091
- “debían” frequency rank
- #2,706
- “debió” frequency rank
- 7797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debían | debió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber. |
Where the eye mixes debían and debió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debían with debió
A purely visual mix-up. debían ([d̪eˈβ̞iãn]) and debió ([d̪eˈβ̞jo]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7797, 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]. debió is at rank #2,706, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞jo].
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 7797, this pair ranks #306,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debían vs debió
Shared letters: bde. Private to "debían": aní. Private to "debió": ió.
"debían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "debió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debían" for "debió" ever safe?
Which is more common, "debían" or "debió"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "debían" and "debió" 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 "debió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debían" and "debió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debió vs deli". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #306,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.