decidovsdécimaTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#13,433
“decido” frequency rank
#11,562
“décima” frequency rank
24995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decido décima
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente 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 eye mixes decido and décima

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

6 ch
decido
6 ch
décima

Why the eye confuses decido with décima

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decido is [d̪eˈsið̞o] while décima is [ˈd̪esima]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24995, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decido is recorded at frequency rank #13,433, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsið̞o]. 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 24995, this pair ranks #238,496 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of decido vs décima

Shared letters: cdi. Private to "decido": eo. Private to "décima": amé.

"decido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "décima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • decidodceido · ddecido · deccido · decdio · deciddo · deciod · deicdo · desido

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "decido" and "décima" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decido" is a verb and "décima" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "decido" or "décima"?
"décima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,562 in our Spanish list, against #13,433 for "decido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "decido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décima" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #238,496 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decido" and "décima" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decaído vs decido". 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 #238,496 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