Which to use
“debidas” is a participle and “decías” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,315
- “debidas” frequency rank
- #15,066
- “decías” frequency rank
- 37381
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debidas | decías |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino plural de debido, participio de deber. | Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de decir. |
Where the eye mixes debidas and decías
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. debidas runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against decías's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: debidas vs decías
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debidas is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞as] while decías is [d̪eˈsias]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debidas is recorded at frequency rank #22,315, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞as]. decías is at rank #15,066, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsias].
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 37381, this pair ranks #175,604 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debidas vs decías
Shared letters: ades. Private to "debidas": bi. Private to "decías": cí.
"debidas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "decías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- debidas ← dbeidas · ddebidas · debbidas · debdias · debiads · debidass · debiddas · debidsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debidas" for "decías" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debidas" or "decías" show up more?
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 "debidas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,604 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debidas" and "decías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debías vs debidas". 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 #175,604 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.