Which to use
“debías” and “decía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,095
- “debías” frequency rank
- #1,136
- “decía” frequency rank
- 45231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debías | decía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de deber. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de decir. |
Where the eye mixes debías and decía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. debías runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against decía's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between debías and decía
A purely visual mix-up. debías ([d̪eˈβ̞ias]) and decía ([d̪eˈsia]) 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 45231, 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]. decía is at rank #1,136, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsia].
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 45231, this pair ranks #132,626 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debías vs decía
Shared letters: adeí. Private to "debías": bs. Private to "decía": c.
"debías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "decía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debías" and "decía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debías" or "decía" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "debías" and "decía" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "debías" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #132,626 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debías" and "decía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debías vs Denia". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #132,626 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.