prohibidovsprohibidosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prohibido is a adjective, prohibidos is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,353
“prohibido” frequency rank
#13,769
“prohibidos” frequency rank
17122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prohibido prohibidos
Definition Que por ley, autoridad o estatuto no está consentido y es ilegítimo. Que no se permite. Forma del plural de prohibido.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prohibido and prohibidos apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
prohibido
10 ch
prohibidos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

prohibido and prohibidos 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 extra letter(s) - “prohibido” sits inside “prohibidos” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prohibido is recorded at frequency rank #3,353, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞ið̞o]. prohibidos is at rank #13,769, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞ið̞os].

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 17122, this pair ranks #273,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

prohibido#3,353
prohibidos#13,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prohibido" and "prohibidos" be used interchangeably?
No, "prohibido" and "prohibidos" 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 prohibido vs prohibidos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “prohibido”; for a participle, it's “prohibidos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “prohibido” 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