Which to use
“décimo” is a num and “derivó” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,794
- “décimo” frequency rank
- #23,747
- “derivó” frequency rank
- 32541
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décimo | derivó |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que ocupa el puesto siguiente al noveno en una serie ordenada. Ordinal del diez. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de derivar. |
Where the eye mixes décimo and derivó
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. décimo and derivó follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décimo with derivó
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décimo is [ˈd̪esimo] while derivó is [d̪eɾiˈβ̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32541, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décimo is recorded at frequency rank #8,794, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪esimo]. derivó is at rank #23,747, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eɾiˈβ̞o].
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 32541, this pair ranks #201,447 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décimo vs derivó
Shared letters: di. Private to "décimo": cmoé. Private to "derivó": ervó.
"décimo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "derivó" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décimo" and "derivó" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "décimo" vs "derivó" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décimo" and "derivó" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décimo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derivó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #201,447 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décimo" and "derivó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derivó vs divo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #201,447 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.