Which to use
“prohibido” is an adjective and “prohibiendo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,353
- “prohibido” frequency rank
- #26,190
- “prohibiendo” frequency rank
- 29543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prohibido | prohibiendo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que por ley, autoridad o estatuto no está consentido y es ilegítimo. Que no se permite. | Gerundio de prohibir. |
Where the eye mixes prohibido and prohibiendo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. prohibido runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against prohibiendo's 11 (CCVCVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses prohibido with prohibiendo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prohibido is [pɾojˈβ̞ið̞o] while prohibiendo is [pɾojˈβ̞jẽn̪d̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29543, 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]. prohibiendo is at rank #26,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾojˈβ̞jẽn̪d̪o].
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 29543, this pair ranks #216,480 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prohibido vs prohibiendo
Shared letters: bdhiopr. Private to "prohibido": -. Private to "prohibiendo": en.
"prohibido" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV · "prohibiendo" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prohibido ← porhibido · pprohibido · prhoibido · prohbiido · prohhibido · prohibbido · prohibdio · prohibiddo
- prohibiendo ← porhibiendo · pprohibiendo · prhoibiendo · prohbiiendo · prohhibiendo · prohibbiendo · prohibeindo · prohibiedno
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "prohibido" and "prohibiendo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "prohibido" or "prohibiendo"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "prohibido" and "prohibiendo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "prohibido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prohibiendo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,480 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prohibido" and "prohibiendo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prohibía vs prohibido". 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 #216,480 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.