destruyavsdestruyeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,405
“destruya” frequency rank
#8,642
“destruye” frequency rank
35047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature destruya destruye
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de destruir o de destruirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de destruir o de destruirse.

Where the eye mixes destruya and destruye

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. destruya and destruye follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
destruya
8 ch
destruye

Look-alike desk: destruya vs destruye

A purely visual mix-up. destruya ([d̪esˈt̪ɾuʝa]) and destruye ([d̪esˈt̪ɾuʝe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “destruya” becomes e in “destruye”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

destruya is recorded at frequency rank #26,405, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪ɾuʝa]. destruye is at rank #8,642, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪ɾuʝe].

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 35047, this pair ranks #188,149 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of destruya vs destruye

Shared letters: derstuy. Private to "destruya": a. Private to "destruye": -.

"destruya" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVV  ·  "destruye" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • destruya ← ddestruya · desrtuya · desstruya · destrruya · destruay · destruyya · destryua · desttruya
  • destruye ← ddestruye · desrtuye · desstruye · destrruye · destruey · destruyye · destryue · desttruye

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "destruya" for "destruye" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈt̪ɾuʝa] versus [d̪esˈt̪ɾuʝe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "destruya" vs "destruye" - which ranks higher?
"destruye" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,642 in our Spanish list, against #26,405 for "destruya". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "destruya" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destruye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #188,149 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "destruya" and "destruye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destruya vs destruyo". 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 #188,149 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