dejavsdeudaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#496
“deja” frequency rank
#1,846
“deuda” frequency rank
2342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deja deuda
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dejar o de dejarse. Obligación de pagar o satisfacer de otro modo un compromiso.

Where the eye mixes deja and deuda

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

4 ch
deja
5 ch
deuda

Visual trap between deja and deuda

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deja is [ˈd̪exa] while deuda is [ˈd̪ewð̞a]. 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 2342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deja is recorded at frequency rank #496, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪exa]. deuda is at rank #1,846, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ewð̞a].

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 2342, this pair ranks #320,517 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deja vs deuda

Shared letters: ade. Private to "deja": j. Private to "deuda": u.

"deja" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "deuda" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dejaddeja · deaj · dejja · djea · edja
  • deudaddeuda · dedua · deuad · deudda · dueda · eduda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "deja" for "deuda" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deja" is a verb and "deuda" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "deja" vs "deuda" - which ranks higher?
"deja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #496 in our Spanish list, against #1,846 for "deuda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "deja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deuda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,517 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deja" and "deuda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deuda vs Deva". 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 #320,517 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