Which to use
“debió” is a verb and “débito” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,706
- “debió” frequency rank
- #19,707
- “débito” frequency rank
- 22413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debió | débito |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber. | Obligación de pagar o devolver algo, generalmente dinero, que se había recibido antes. |
Where the eye mixes debió and débito
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debió with débito
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debió is [d̪eˈβ̞jo] while débito is [ˈd̪eβ̞it̪o]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debió is recorded at frequency rank #2,706, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞jo]. débito is at rank #19,707, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞it̪o].
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 22413, this pair ranks #250,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debió vs débito
Shared letters: bdi. Private to "debió": eó. Private to "débito": oté.
"debió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "débito" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debió" for "débito" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debió" or "débito" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "debió" and "débito" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "debió" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "débito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debió" and "débito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débito vs Deusto". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #250,449 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.