decenavsdécimaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,593
“decena” frequency rank
#11,562
“décima” frequency rank
37155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decena décima
Definition Conjunto formado por diez elementos. Cada parte de las diez en que se dividen ciertas medidas, como los grados en un termómetro, las micras, etc.

Where the eye mixes decena and décima

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

6 ch
decena
6 ch
décima

Visual trap between decena and décima

A purely visual mix-up. decena ([d̪eˈsena]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decena is recorded at frequency rank #25,593, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈsena]. 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 37155, this pair ranks #176,806 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decena vs décima

Shared letters: acd. Private to "decena": en. Private to "décima": imé.

"decena" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "décima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decenadceena · ddecena · deccena · decenna · decnea · deecna · edcena

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decena" and "décima" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsena] versus [ˈd̪esima]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decena" or "décima"?
"décima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,562 in our Spanish list, against #25,593 for "decena". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "decena" 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 #176,806 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decena" and "décima" 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 #176,806 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