debidavsdecideWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: debida is a participle, decide is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“debida” is a participle and “decide” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,385
“debida” frequency rank
#3,041
“decide” frequency rank
14426
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debida decide
Definition Forma del femenino de debido, participio de deber. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decidir o de decidirse.

Where the eye mixes debida and decide

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

6 ch
debida
6 ch
decide

Look-alike desk: debida vs decide

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debida is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞a] while decide is [d̪eˈsið̞e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

debida is recorded at frequency rank #11,385, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞a]. decide is at rank #3,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsið̞e].

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 14426, this pair ranks #284,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of debida vs decide

Shared letters: dei. Private to "debida": ab. Private to "decide": c.

"debida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debidadbeida · ddebida · debbida · debdia · debiad · debidda · deibda · devida
  • decidedceide · ddecide · deccide · decdie · decidde · decied · deicde · deside

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "debida" and "decide" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "debida" is a participle and "decide" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "debida" or "decide"?
"decide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,041 in our Spanish list, against #11,385 for "debida". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "debida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decide" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "debida" and "decide" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debida vs dolida". 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 #284,154 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