Which to use
“debió” and “dobló” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,706
- “debió” frequency rank
- #39,177
- “dobló” frequency rank
- 41883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debió | dobló |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de deber. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de doblar. |
Where the eye mixes debió and dobló
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. debió (CVCVV) and dobló (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: debió vs dobló
A purely visual mix-up. debió ([d̪eˈβ̞jo]) and dobló ([d̪oˈβ̞lo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41883, 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]. dobló is at rank #39,177, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪oˈβ̞lo].
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 41883, this pair ranks #151,263 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of debió vs dobló
Shared letters: bdó. Private to "debió": ei. Private to "dobló": lo.
"debió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "dobló" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debió" and "dobló" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "debió" vs "dobló" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "dobló" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #151,263 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debió" and "dobló" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dobló vs dojo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #151,263 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.