debidasvsdecidaConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#22,315
“debidas” frequency rank
#9,273
“decida” frequency rank
31588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debidas decida
Definition Forma del femenino plural de debido, participio de deber. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de decidir o de decidirse.

Where the eye mixes debidas and decida

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
debidas
6 ch
decida

Why the eye confuses debidas with decida

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debidas is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞as] while decida is [d̪eˈsið̞a]. 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 31588, 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]. decida is at rank #9,273, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsið̞a].

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 31588, this pair ranks #206,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of debidas vs decida

Shared letters: adei. Private to "debidas": bs. Private to "decida": c.

"debidas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "decida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debidasdbeidas · ddebidas · debbidas · debdias · debiads · debidass · debiddas · debidsa
  • decidadceida · ddecida · deccida · decdia · deciad · decidda · deicda · desida

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "debidas" for "decida" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "debidas" is a participle and "decida" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "debidas" or "decida"?
"decida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,273 in our Spanish list, against #22,315 for "debidas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "debidas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decida" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "debidas" and "decida" 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 #206,325 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