Which to use
“década” and “decena” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,078
- “década” frequency rank
- #25,593
- “decena” frequency rank
- 27671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | década | decena |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Período de diez años. | Conjunto formado por diez elementos. |
Where the eye mixes década and decena
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: década vs decena
A purely visual mix-up. década ([ˈd̪ekað̞a]) and decena ([d̪eˈsena]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27671, 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]. decena is at rank #25,593, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈsena].
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 27671, this pair ranks #225,715 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of década vs decena
Shared letters: acd. Private to "década": é. Private to "decena": en.
"década" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "decena" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- decena ← dceena · ddecena · deccena · decenna · decnea · deecna · edcena
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "década" and "decena" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "década" vs "decena" - which ranks higher?
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 "decena" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,715 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "década" and "decena" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decena vs detenía". 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 #225,715 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.