debíasvsdebimosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“debías” and “debimos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,095
“debías” frequency rank
#37,013
“debimos” frequency rank
81108
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debías debimos
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber.

Where the eye mixes debías and debimos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
debías
7 ch
debimos

Look-alike desk: debías vs debimos

A purely visual mix-up. debías ([d̪eˈβ̞ias]) and debimos ([d̪eˈβ̞imos]) 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 81108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

debías is recorded at frequency rank #44,095, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ias]. debimos is at rank #37,013, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞imos].

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 81108, this pair ranks #10,814 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of debías vs debimos

Shared letters: bdes. Private to "debías": . Private to "debimos": imo.

"debías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "debimos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debimosdbeimos · ddebimos · debbimos · debimmos · debimoss · debimso · debioms · debmios

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "debías" for "debimos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈβ̞ias] versus [d̪eˈβ̞imos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "debías" or "debimos"?
"debimos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,013 in our Spanish list, against #44,095 for "debías". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "debías" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "debimos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,814 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "debías" and "debimos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debías vs Denia". 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 #10,814 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list