Which to use
“prohíba” and “prohibió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,903
- “prohíba” frequency rank
- #12,683
- “prohibió” frequency rank
- 51586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohíba | prohibió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de prohibir. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de prohibir. |
Where the eye mixes prohíba and prohibió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: prohíba vs prohibió
A purely visual mix-up. prohíba ([pɾoˈiβ̞a]) and prohibió ([pɾojˈβ̞jo]) 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 51586, 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]. prohibió is at rank #12,683, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞jo].
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 51586, this pair ranks #97,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prohíba vs prohibió
Shared letters: bhopr. Private to "prohíba": aí. Private to "prohibió": ió.
"prohíba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "prohibió" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prohíba" and "prohibió" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "prohíba" or "prohibió" show up more?
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 "prohíba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prohibió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohíba" and "prohibió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohíba vs provida". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #97,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.