décadavsdécimaConfusable pair

Which to use

“década” and “décima” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,078
“década” frequency rank
#11,562
“décima” frequency rank
13640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature década décima
Definition Período de diez años. Cada parte de las diez en que se dividen ciertas medidas, como los grados en un termómetro, las micras, etc.

Where the eye mixes década and décima

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
década
6 ch
décima

Look-alike desk: década vs décima

A purely visual mix-up. década ([ˈd̪ekað̞a]) and décima ([ˈd̪esima]) 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 13640, 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]. décima is at rank #11,562, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪esima].

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 13640, this pair ranks #287,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of década vs décima

Shared letters: acdé. Private to "década": -. Private to "décima": im.

"década" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "décima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "década" and "décima" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪ekað̞a] versus [ˈd̪esima]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "década" or "décima" show up more?
"década" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,078 in our Spanish list, against #11,562 for "décima". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "década" and "décima" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "década" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décima" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #287,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "década" and "décima" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decí vs décima". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #287,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list