Which to use
“prohíben” and “prohibía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,558
- “prohíben” frequency rank
- #26,191
- “prohibía” frequency rank
- 49749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohíben | prohibía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de prohibir. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de prohibir. |
Where the eye mixes prohíben and prohibía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. prohíben (CCVCVCVC) and prohibía (CCVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between prohíben and prohibía
A purely visual mix-up. prohíben ([pɾoˈiβ̞ẽn]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prohíben is recorded at frequency rank #23,558, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈiβ̞ẽn]. 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 49749, this pair ranks #107,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prohíben vs prohibía
Shared letters: bhoprí. Private to "prohíben": en. Private to "prohibía": ai.
"prohíben" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "prohibía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prohíben" for "prohibía" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "prohíben" or "prohibía" 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 "prohíben" 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 #107,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohíben" and "prohibía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohíba vs prohibía". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #107,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.