Which to use
“debo” and “deja” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,845
- “debo” frequency rank
- #496
- “deja” frequency rank
- 2341
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | debo | deja |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de deber. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dejar o de dejarse. |
Where the eye mixes debo and deja
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses debo with deja
A purely visual mix-up. debo ([ˈd̪eβ̞o]) and deja ([ˈd̪exa]) 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 2341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
debo is recorded at frequency rank #1,845, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪eβ̞o]. deja is at rank #496, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪exa].
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 2341, this pair ranks #320,520 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of debo vs deja
Shared letters: de. Private to "debo": bo. Private to "deja": aj.
"debo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "deja" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "debo" and "deja" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "debo" or "deja" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "debo" and "deja" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "debo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,520 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "debo" and "deja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "debo vs Deva". 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 #320,520 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.