publicavspublicabaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,362
“publica” frequency rank
#20,784
“publicaba” frequency rank
23146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature publica publicaba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de publicar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de publicar.

Where the eye mixes publica and publicaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. publica runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against publicaba's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
publica
9 ch
publicaba

Why the eye confuses publica with publicaba

A purely visual mix-up. publica ([puˈβ̞lika]) and publicaba ([puβ̞liˈkaβ̞a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “publica” sits inside “publicaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

publica is recorded at frequency rank #2,362, classified as averb, pronounced [puˈβ̞lika]. publicaba is at rank #20,784, tagged as averb, pronounced [puβ̞liˈkaβ̞a].

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 23146, this pair ranks #247,168 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of publica vs publicaba

Shared letters: abcilpu. Private to "publica": -. Private to "publicaba": -.

"publica" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "publicaba" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • publica ← pbulica · ppublica · pubblica · pubilca · publcia · publiac · publicca · publlica
  • publicaba ← pbulicaba · ppublicaba · pubblicaba · pubilcaba · publciaba · publiacba · publicaab · publicabba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "publica" for "publicaba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([puˈβ̞lika] versus [puβ̞liˈkaβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "publica" or "publicaba"?
"publica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,362 in our Spanish list, against #20,784 for "publicaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "publica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "publicaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,168 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "publica" and "publicaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "publicaba vs publicaré". 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 #247,168 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list