prohibíavsprohibióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“prohibía” and “prohibió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,191
“prohibía” frequency rank
#12,683
“prohibió” frequency rank
38874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prohibía prohibió
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto 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 spellings diverge

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

8 ch
prohibía
8 ch
prohibió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. prohibía ([pɾojˈβ̞ia]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38874, 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]. 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 38874, this pair ranks #167,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prohibía vs prohibió

Shared letters: bhiopr. Private to "prohibía": . Private to "prohibió": ó.

"prohibía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "prohibió" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

prohibía#26,191
prohibió#12,683

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prohibía" and "prohibió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾojˈβ̞ia] versus [pɾojˈβ̞jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "prohibía" or "prohibió"?
"prohibió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,683 in our Spanish list, against #26,191 for "prohibía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prohibía vs prohibió

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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