declarevsdecliveWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#17,661
“declare” frequency rank
#14,568
“declive” frequency rank
32229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature declare declive
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de declarar. Pendiente o inclinación del terreno o de una superficie.

Where the eye mixes declare and declive

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
declare
7 ch
declive

Why the eye confuses declare with declive

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: declare is [d̪eˈklaɾe] while declive is [d̪eˈkliβ̞e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 32229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

declare is recorded at frequency rank #17,661, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈklaɾe]. declive is at rank #14,568, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪eˈkliβ̞e].

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 32229, this pair ranks #203,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of declare vs declive

Shared letters: cdel. Private to "declare": ar. Private to "declive": iv.

"declare" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "declive" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • declaredcelare · ddeclare · decalre · decclare · declaer · declarre · decllare · declrae
  • declivedcelive · ddeclive · decclive · decilve · declibe · decliev · declivve · decllive

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "declare" for "declive" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "declare" is a verb and "declive" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "declare" or "declive"?
"declive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,568 in our Spanish list, against #17,661 for "declare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "declare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "declive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #203,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "declare" and "declive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decae vs declare". 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 #203,098 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