decidívsdecirWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,877
“decidí” frequency rank
#131
“decir” frequency rank
5008
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decidí decir
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de decidir o de decidirse. Manifestar con palabras el pensamiento.

Where the eye mixes decidí and decir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
decidí
5 ch
decir

Visual trap between decidí and decir

A purely visual mix-up. decidí ([d̪esiˈð̞i]) and decir ([d̪eˈsiɾ]) 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 5008, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decidí is recorded at frequency rank #4,877, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esiˈð̞i]. decir is at rank #131, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsiɾ].

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 5008, this pair ranks #314,708 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decidí vs decir

Shared letters: cdei. Private to "decidí": í. Private to "decir": r.

"decidí" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "decir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decirdceir · ddecir · deccir · decirr · decri · deicr · desir · edcir

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "decidí" for "decir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esiˈð̞i] versus [d̪eˈsiɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "decidí" or "decir"?
"decir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #131 in our Spanish list, against #4,877 for "decidí". 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 "decidí" and "decir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "decidí" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "decir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #314,708 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decidí" and "decir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decir vs deli". 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 #314,708 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