decaevsdecíTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,929
“decae” frequency rank
#42,935
“decí” frequency rank
91864
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decae decí
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decaer. Segunda persona del singular (vos) del imperativo afirmativo de decir.

Where the eye mixes decae and decí

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
decae
4 ch
decí

Visual trap between decae and decí

A purely visual mix-up. decae ([d̪eˈkae]) and decí ([d̪eˈsi]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decae is recorded at frequency rank #48,929, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈkae]. decí is at rank #42,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsi].

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 91864, this pair ranks #1,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of decae vs decí

Shared letters: cde. Private to "decae": a. Private to "decí": í.

"decae" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "decí" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decaedceae · ddecae · deace · deccae · edcae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decae" and "decí" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈkae] versus [d̪eˈsi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "decae" vs "decí" - which ranks higher?
"decí" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,935 in our Spanish list, against #48,929 for "decae". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decae" and "decí" 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 #1,755 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