decíavsdejaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,136
“decía” frequency rank
#496
“deja” frequency rank
1632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decía deja
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo 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 decía and deja

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

5 ch
decía
4 ch
deja

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. decía ([d̪eˈsia]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1632, 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]. 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 1632, this pair ranks #321,712 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decía vs deja

Shared letters: ade. Private to "decía": . Private to "deja": j.

"decía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "deja" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dejaddeja · deaj · dejja · djea · edja

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decía" and "deja" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsia] versus [ˈd̪exa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decía" or "deja"?
"deja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #496 in our Spanish list, against #1,136 for "decía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "decía" and "deja". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decía" 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 #321,712 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decía" and "deja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decía 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list