Which to use
“prohíbe” and “prohíben” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,199
- “prohíbe” frequency rank
- #23,558
- “prohíben” frequency rank
- 33757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohíbe | prohíben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de prohibir. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de prohibir. |
Where the eye mixes prohíbe and prohíben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. prohíbe runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against prohíben's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between prohíbe and prohíben
A purely visual mix-up. prohíbe ([pɾoˈiβ̞e]) and prohíben ([pɾoˈiβ̞ẽn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “prohíbe” sits inside “prohíben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prohíbe is recorded at frequency rank #10,199, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈiβ̞e]. prohíben is at rank #23,558, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈiβ̞ẽn].
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 33757, this pair ranks #195,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prohíbe vs prohíben
Shared letters: behoprí. Private to "prohíbe": -. Private to "prohíben": n.
"prohíbe" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "prohíben" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "prohíbe" and "prohíben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "prohíbe" vs "prohíben" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prohíbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prohíben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #195,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohíbe" and "prohíben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohíba vs prohíben". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #195,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.