Which to use
“debían” and “dedican” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,091
- “debían” frequency rank
- #7,288
- “dedican” frequency rank
- 12379
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debían | dedican |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dedicar o de dedicarse. |
Where the eye mixes debían and dedican
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: debían vs dedican
A purely visual mix-up. debían ([d̪eˈβ̞iãn]) and dedican ([d̪eˈð̞ikãn]) 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 12379, 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]. dedican is at rank #7,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈð̞ikãn].
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 12379, this pair ranks #291,763 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debían vs dedican
Shared letters: aden. Private to "debían": bí. Private to "dedican": ci.
"debían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "dedican" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dedican ← ddedican · ddeican · dedcian · deddican · dediacn · dedicann · dediccan · dedicna
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debían" and "dedican" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "debían" vs "dedican" - which ranks higher?
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 "dedican" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,763 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debían" and "dedican" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dedican vs dedicará". 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 #291,763 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.