decíavsdeisWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,136
“decía” frequency rank
#31,304
“deis” frequency rank
32440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decía deis
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de decir. Segunda persona del plural (vosotros, vosotras) del presente de subjuntivo de dar o de darse.

Where the eye mixes decía and deis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
decía
4 ch
deis

Look-alike desk: decía vs deis

A purely visual mix-up. decía ([d̪eˈsia]) and deis ([ˈd̪ejs]) 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 32440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decía is recorded at frequency rank #1,136, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsia]. deis is at rank #31,304, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ejs].

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 32440, this pair ranks #201,954 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decía vs deis

Shared letters: de. Private to "decía": ací. Private to "deis": is.

"decía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "deis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deisddeis · deiss · desi · edis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decía" and "deis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsia] versus [ˈd̪ejs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "decía" or "deis" show up more?
"decía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,136 in our Spanish list, against #31,304 for "deis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "decía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #201,954 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decía" and "deis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deis 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 #201,954 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