Which to use
“debido” is a verb and “débil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #479
- “debido” frequency rank
- #3,397
- “débil” frequency rank
- 3876
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debido | débil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de deber. | De poca fortaleza, que carece de fuerza física. |
Where the eye mixes debido and débil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between debido and débil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debido is [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞o] while débil is [ˈd̪eβ̞il]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debido is recorded at frequency rank #479, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞ið̞o]. débil is at rank #3,397, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞il].
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 3876, this pair ranks #317,374 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debido vs débil
Shared letters: bdi. Private to "debido": eo. Private to "débil": lé.
"debido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "débil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- debido ← dbeido · ddebido · debbido · debdio · debiddo · debiod · deibdo · devido
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "debido" and "débil" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debido" or "débil" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "debido" and "débil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "debido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "débil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,374 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debido" and "débil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débil vs deli". 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 #317,374 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.