percibavspercibenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#47,316
“perciba” frequency rank
#14,912
“perciben” frequency rank
62228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perciba perciben
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de percibir. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de percibir.

Where the eye mixes perciba and perciben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. perciba runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against perciben's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
perciba
8 ch
perciben

Visual trap between perciba and perciben

A purely visual mix-up. perciba ([peɾˈsiβ̞a]) and perciben ([peɾˈsiβ̞ẽn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perciba is recorded at frequency rank #47,316, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾˈsiβ̞a]. perciben is at rank #14,912, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾˈsiβ̞ẽn].

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 62228, this pair ranks #52,746 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of perciba vs perciben

Shared letters: bceipr. Private to "perciba": a. Private to "perciben": n.

"perciba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "perciben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perciba ← eprciba · pecriba · percbia · percciba · perciab · percibba · perciva · pericba
  • perciben ← eprciben · pecriben · percbien · percciben · percibben · percibenn · percibne · perciebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "perciba" for "perciben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peɾˈsiβ̞a] versus [peɾˈsiβ̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "perciba" or "perciben" show up more?
"perciben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,912 in our Spanish list, against #47,316 for "perciba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "perciba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "perciben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,746 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "perciba" and "perciben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perciba vs percibía". 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 #52,746 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