Which to use
“década” is a noun and “decide” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,078
- “década” frequency rank
- #3,041
- “decide” frequency rank
- 5119
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | década | decide |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Período de diez años. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decidir o de decidirse. |
Where the eye mixes década and decide
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: década vs decide
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: década is [ˈd̪ekað̞a] while decide is [d̪eˈsið̞e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5119, 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]. decide is at rank #3,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsið̞e].
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 5119, this pair ranks #314,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of década vs decide
Shared letters: cd. Private to "década": aé. Private to "decide": ei.
"década" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- decide ← dceide · ddecide · deccide · decdie · decidde · decied · deicde · deside
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "década" and "decide" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "década" or "decide"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "década" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decide" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "década" and "decide" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decae vs decide". 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 #314,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.