decidíavsdécimaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: decidía is a verb, décima is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#34,043
“decidía” frequency rank
#11,562
“décima” frequency rank
45605
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decidía décima
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de decidir o de decidirse. Cada parte de las diez en que se dividen ciertas medidas, como los grados en un termómetro, las micras, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set decidía and décima apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
decidía
6 ch
décima

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decidía is [d̪esiˈð̞ia] while décima is [ˈd̪esima]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45605, 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]. décima is at rank #11,562, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪esima].

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 45605, this pair ranks #130,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decidía vs décima

Shared letters: acdi. Private to "decidía": . Private to "décima": .

"decidía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "décima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

decidía#34,043
décima#11,562

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "decidía" and "décima" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decidía" is a verb and "décima" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "decidía" or "décima"?
"décima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,562 in our Spanish list, against #34,043 for "decidía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering decidía vs décima

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “decidía”; for a noun, it's “décima”.
  • 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