decisiónvsdivisiónTell them apart

Which to use

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

#890
“decisión” frequency rank
#1,847
“división” frequency rank
2737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decisión división
Definition Determinación, resolución, transacción de una controversia, fallo, sobre algo que se discute. Acto de partir una cosa, separar las partes de algo.

Where the eye mixes decisión and división

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
decisión
8 ch
división

Visual trap between decisión and división

A purely visual mix-up. decisión ([d̪esiˈsjõn]) and división ([d̪iβ̞iˈsjõn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

decisión is recorded at frequency rank #890, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪esiˈsjõn]. división is at rank #1,847, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪iβ̞iˈsjõn].

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 2737, this pair ranks #319,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of decisión vs división

Shared letters: dinsó. Private to "decisión": ce. Private to "división": v.

"decisión" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "división" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "decisión" for "división" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esiˈsjõn] versus [d̪iβ̞iˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "decisión" or "división" show up more?
"decisión" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #890 in our Spanish list, against #1,847 for "división". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "decisión" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "división" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #319,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decisión" and "división" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "división vs divisor". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #319,760 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