Which to use
“debió” and “decí” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,706
- “debió” frequency rank
- #42,935
- “decí” frequency rank
- 45641
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debió | decí |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber. | Segunda persona del singular (vos) del imperativo afirmativo de decir. |
Where the eye mixes debió and decí
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. debió runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against decí's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between debió and decí
A purely visual mix-up. debió ([d̪eˈβ̞jo]) and decí ([d̪eˈsi]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45641, 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]. decí is at rank #42,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsi].
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 45641, this pair ranks #130,272 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debió vs decí
Shared letters: de. Private to "debió": bió. Private to "decí": cí.
"debió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "decí" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "debió" for "decí" ever safe?
Frequency check: "debió" vs "decí" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "debió" and "decí" 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 "decí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,272 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debió" and "decí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decí vs Deva". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #130,272 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.