Which to use
“prohibía” and “prohibir” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,191
- “prohibía” frequency rank
- #6,104
- “prohibir” frequency rank
- 32295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohibía | prohibir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de prohibir. | Negar el permiso o la posibilidad para la ejecución de una acción (o modo de obrar) o para el uso, consumo o presencia de algo en determinadas circunstancias. |
Where the eye mixes prohibía and prohibir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. prohibía (CCVCVCVV) and prohibir (CCVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses prohibía with prohibir
A purely visual mix-up. prohibía ([pɾojˈβ̞ia]) and prohibir ([pɾojˈβ̞iɾ]) 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 32295, 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]. prohibir is at rank #6,104, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞iɾ].
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 32295, this pair ranks #202,716 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prohibía vs prohibir
Shared letters: bhiopr. Private to "prohibía": aí. Private to "prohibir": -.
"prohibía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV · "prohibir" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- prohibir ← porhibir · pprohibir · prhoibir · prohbiir · prohhibir · prohibbir · prohibirr · prohibri
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prohibía" for "prohibir" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "prohibía" or "prohibir" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "prohibía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prohibir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,716 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohibía" and "prohibir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohíba vs prohibía". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #202,716 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.