Which to use
“prohíben” and “prohibió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,558
- “prohíben” frequency rank
- #12,683
- “prohibió” frequency rank
- 36241
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohíben | prohibió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo 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 prohíben and prohibió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. prohíben (CCVCVCVC) and prohibió (CCVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: prohíben vs prohibió
A purely visual mix-up. prohíben ([pɾoˈiβ̞ẽn]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36241, 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]. 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 36241, this pair ranks #181,678 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prohíben vs prohibió
Shared letters: bhopr. Private to "prohíben": ení. Private to "prohibió": ió.
"prohíben" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "prohibió" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prohíben" for "prohibió" ever safe?
Frequency check: "prohíben" vs "prohibió" - which ranks higher?
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 "prohíben" 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 #181,678 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohíben" and "prohibió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohíba vs prohíben". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #181,678 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.