debovsdepaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: debo is a verb, depa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“debo” is a verb and “depa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,845
“debo” frequency rank
#41,846
“depa” frequency rank
43691
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debo depa
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de deber. Departamento

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set debo and depa apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
debo
4 ch
depa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debo is [ˈd̪eβ̞o] while depa is [ˈd̪epa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43691, 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]. depa is at rank #41,846, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪epa].

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 43691, this pair ranks #141,244 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of debo vs depa

Shared letters: de. Private to "debo": bo. Private to "depa": ap.

"debo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "depa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • debodbeo · ddebo · debbo · deob · devo · edbo
  • depaddepa · deap · deppa · dpea · edpa

Frequency comparison

debo#1,845
depa#41,846

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "debo" and "depa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "debo" is a verb and "depa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "debo" or "depa"?
"debo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,845 in our Spanish list, against #41,846 for "depa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering debo vs depa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “debo”; for a noun, it's “depa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “debo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list