Which to use
“diez” is a num and “dijo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #806
- “diez” frequency rank
- #184
- “dijo” frequency rank
- 990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | diez | dijo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nueve y uno. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de decir. |
Where the eye mixes diez and dijo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses diez with dijo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: diez is [ˈd̪jes] while dijo is [ˈd̪ixo]. 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 (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
diez is recorded at frequency rank #806, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈd̪jes]. dijo is at rank #184, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ixo].
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 990, this pair ranks #322,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of diez vs dijo
Shared letters: di. Private to "diez": ez. Private to "dijo": jo.
"diez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dijo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "diez" for "dijo" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "diez" or "dijo" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "diez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dijo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "diez" and "dijo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diez vs divo". 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 #322,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.