Which to use
“debió” is a verb and “décimo” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,706
- “debió” frequency rank
- #8,794
- “décimo” frequency rank
- 11500
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debió | décimo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber. | Que ocupa el puesto siguiente al noveno en una serie ordenada. Ordinal del diez. |
Where the eye mixes debió and décimo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debió with décimo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debió is [d̪eˈβ̞jo] while décimo is [ˈd̪esimo]. 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 num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11500, 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]. décimo is at rank #8,794, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪esimo].
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 11500, this pair ranks #294,883 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debió vs décimo
Shared letters: di. Private to "debió": beó. Private to "décimo": cmoé.
"debió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "décimo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "debió" and "décimo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "debió" vs "décimo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "debió" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décimo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,883 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debió" and "décimo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decaído vs décimo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #294,883 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.