prohibíavsprohibidoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prohibía is a verb, prohibido is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prohibía” is a verb and “prohibido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,191
“prohibía” frequency rank
#3,353
“prohibido” frequency rank
29544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prohibía prohibido
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de prohibir. Que por ley, autoridad o estatuto no está consentido y es ilegítimo. Que no se permite.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prohibía and prohibido apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
prohibía
9 ch
prohibido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

prohibía and prohibido form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prohibía is recorded at frequency rank #26,191, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞ia]. prohibido is at rank #3,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞ið̞o].

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 29544, this pair ranks #216,475 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

prohibía#26,191
prohibido#3,353

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prohibía" and "prohibido" be used interchangeably?
No, "prohibía" and "prohibido" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering prohibía vs prohibido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “prohibía”; for an adjective, it's “prohibido”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “prohibía” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list