decaevsdoceWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: decae is a verb, doce is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decae” is a verb and “doce” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,929
“decae” frequency rank
#2,825
“doce” frequency rank
51754
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decae doce
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de decaer. Once y uno.

Where the eye mixes decae and doce

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

5 ch
decae
4 ch
doce

Why the eye confuses decae with doce

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decae is [d̪eˈkae] while doce is [ˈd̪ose]. 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 (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51754, 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]. doce is at rank #2,825, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪ose].

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 51754, this pair ranks #96,226 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decae vs doce

Shared letters: cde. Private to "decae": a. Private to "doce": o.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decaedceae · ddecae · deace · deccae · edcae
  • docedcoe · ddoce · docce · doec · dose · odce

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decae" and "doce" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decae" is a verb and "doce" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "decae" or "doce"?
"doce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,825 in our Spanish list, against #48,929 for "decae". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "decae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "doce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,226 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decae" and "doce" 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 #96,226 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