debidasvsdécimasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: debidas is a participle, décimas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#22,315
“debidas” frequency rank
#29,178
“décimas” frequency rank
51493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debidas décimas
Definition Forma del femenino plural de debido, participio de deber. Forma del femenino plural de décimo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set debidas and décimas apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
debidas
7 ch
décimas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debidas is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞as] while décimas is [ˈd̪esimas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51493, 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]. décimas is at rank #29,178, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪esimas].

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 51493, this pair ranks #97,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of debidas vs décimas

Shared letters: adis. Private to "debidas": be. Private to "décimas": cmé.

"debidas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "décimas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debidasdbeidas · ddebidas · debbidas · debdias · debiads · debidass · debiddas · debidsa

Frequency comparison

debidas#22,315
décimas#29,178

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "debidas" and "décimas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "debidas" is a participle and "décimas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "debidas" or "décimas"?
"debidas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,315 in our Spanish list, against #29,178 for "décimas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering debidas vs décimas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “debidas”; for an adjective, it's “décimas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “debidas” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list