decidíavsdecididoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: decidía is a verb, decidido is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decidía” is a verb and “decidido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,043
“decidía” frequency rank
#2,392
“decidido” frequency rank
36435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decidía decidido
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de decidir o de decidirse. Resuelto, terminante.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set decidía and decidido apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
decidía
8 ch
decidido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decidía is [d̪esiˈð̞ia] while decidido is [d̪esiˈð̞ið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decidía is recorded at frequency rank #34,043, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esiˈð̞ia]. decidido is at rank #2,392, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪esiˈð̞ið̞o].

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 36435, this pair ranks #180,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decidía vs decidido

Shared letters: cdei. Private to "decidía": . Private to "decidido": o.

"decidía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "decidido" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decididodceidido · ddecidido · deccidido · decdiido · deciddido · deciddio · decididdo · decidiod

Frequency comparison

decidía#34,043
decidido#2,392

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decidía" and "decidido" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decidía" is a verb and "decidido" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "decidía" or "decidido"?
"decidido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,392 in our Spanish list, against #34,043 for "decidía". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering decidía vs decidido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “decidía”; for an adjective, it's “decidido”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “decidía” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list