Which to use
“década” is a noun and “decae” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,078
- “década” frequency rank
- #48,929
- “decae” frequency rank
- 51007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | década | decae |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Período de diez años. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decaer. |
Where the eye mixes década and decae
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: década vs decae
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: década is [ˈd̪ekað̞a] while decae is [d̪eˈkae]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
década is recorded at frequency rank #2,078, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ekað̞a]. decae is at rank #48,929, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈkae].
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 51007, this pair ranks #100,189 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of década vs decae
Shared letters: acd. Private to "década": é. Private to "decae": e.
"década" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "decae" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- decae ← dceae · ddecae · deace · deccae · edcae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "década" and "decae" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "década" or "decae" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "década" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,189 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "década" and "decae" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decae 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 #100,189 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.