decívsdejaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,935
“decí” frequency rank
#496
“deja” frequency rank
43431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes decí and deja

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. decí and deja follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
decí
4 ch
deja

Visual trap between decí and deja

A purely visual mix-up. decí ([d̪eˈsi]) and deja ([ˈd̪exa]) 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 43431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decí is recorded at frequency rank #42,935, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsi]. deja is at rank #496, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪exa].

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 43431, this pair ranks #142,690 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decí vs deja

Shared letters: de. Private to "decí": cí. Private to "deja": aj.

"decí" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "deja" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deja ← ddeja · deaj · dejja · djea · edja

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decí" and "deja" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsi] versus [ˈd̪exa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "decí" vs "deja" - which ranks higher?
"deja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #496 in our Spanish list, against #42,935 for "decí". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decí" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #142,690 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decí" and "deja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decí 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 #142,690 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