Which to use
“prohíba” and “prohibía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,903
- “prohíba” frequency rank
- #26,191
- “prohibía” frequency rank
- 65094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohíba | prohibía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de prohibir. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de prohibir. |
Where the eye mixes prohíba and prohibía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. prohíba runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against prohibía's 8 (CCVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between prohíba and prohibía
A purely visual mix-up. prohíba ([pɾoˈiβ̞a]) and prohibía ([pɾojˈβ̞ia]) 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 65094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prohíba is recorded at frequency rank #38,903, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈiβ̞a]. prohibía is at rank #26,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞ia].
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 65094, this pair ranks #43,651 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of prohíba vs prohibía
Shared letters: abhoprí. Private to "prohíba": -. Private to "prohibía": i.
"prohíba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "prohibía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prohíba" and "prohibía" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "prohíba" or "prohibía" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prohíba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prohibía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,651 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohíba" and "prohibía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohíba vs provida". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #43,651 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.