depavsdigaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#41,846
“depa” frequency rank
#1,137
“diga” frequency rank
42983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature depa diga
Definition Departamento Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de decir.

Where the eye mixes depa and diga

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
depa
4 ch
diga

Why the eye confuses depa with diga

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: depa is [ˈd̪epa] while diga is [ˈd̪iɣ̞a]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

depa is recorded at frequency rank #41,846, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪epa]. diga is at rank #1,137, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪iɣ̞a].

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 42983, this pair ranks #145,172 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of depa vs diga

Shared letters: ad. Private to "depa": ep. Private to "diga": gi.

"depa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "diga" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • depaddepa · deap · deppa · dpea · edpa
  • digaddiga · dgia · diag · digga · idga

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "depa" for "diga" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "depa" is a noun and "diga" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "depa" or "diga"?
"diga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,137 in our Spanish list, against #41,846 for "depa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "depa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "diga" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #145,172 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "depa" and "diga" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "depa 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 #145,172 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