debimosvsdimosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“debimos” and “dimos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,013
“debimos” frequency rank
#7,144
“dimos” frequency rank
44157
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debimos dimos
Definition Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber. Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de dar o de darse.

Where the eye mixes debimos and dimos

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

7 ch
debimos
5 ch
dimos

Look-alike desk: debimos vs dimos

A purely visual mix-up. debimos ([d̪eˈβ̞imos]) and dimos ([ˈd̪imos]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

debimos is recorded at frequency rank #37,013, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞imos]. dimos is at rank #7,144, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪imos].

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 44157, this pair ranks #138,615 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of debimos vs dimos

Shared letters: dimos. Private to "debimos": be. Private to "dimos": -.

"debimos" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "dimos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debimosdbeimos · ddebimos · debbimos · debimmos · debimoss · debimso · debioms · debmios
  • dimosddimos · dimmos · dimoss · dimso · dioms · dmios · idmos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "debimos" and "dimos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈβ̞imos] versus [ˈd̪imos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debimos" or "dimos" show up more?
"dimos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,144 in our Spanish list, against #37,013 for "debimos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "debimos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dimos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,615 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "debimos" and "dimos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debías vs debimos". 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 #138,615 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