Which to use
“publicaban” is a verb and “publicada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,407
- “publicaban” frequency rank
- #2,800
- “publicada” frequency rank
- 42207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | publicaban | publicada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de publicar. | Forma del femenino de publicado, participio de publicar. |
Where the eye mixes publicaban and publicada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. publicaban runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCVC) against publicada's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses publicaban with publicada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: publicaban is [puβ̞liˈkaβ̞ãn] while publicada is [puβ̞liˈkað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
publicaban is recorded at frequency rank #39,407, classified as averb, pronounced [puβ̞liˈkaβ̞ãn]. publicada is at rank #2,800, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [puβ̞liˈkað̞a].
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 42207, this pair ranks #149,537 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of publicaban vs publicada
Shared letters: abcilpu. Private to "publicaban": n. Private to "publicada": d.
"publicaban" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC · "publicada" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- publicaban ← pbulicaban · ppublicaban · pubblicaban · pubilcaban · publciaban · publiacban · publicaabn · publicabann
- publicada ← pbulicada · ppublicada · pubblicada · pubilcada · publciada · publiacda · publicaad · publicadda
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "publicaban" and "publicada" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "publicaban" or "publicada" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "publicaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "publicada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #149,537 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "publicaban" and "publicada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "publicaban vs publicarán". 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 #149,537 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.