publicabanvspublicanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,407
“publicaban” frequency rank
#8,168
“publican” frequency rank
47575
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature publicaban publican
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de publicar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de publicar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set publicaban and publican apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
publicaban
8 ch
publican

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. publicaban ([puβ̞liˈkaβ̞ãn]) and publican ([puˈβ̞likãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47575, 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]. publican is at rank #8,168, tagged as averb, pronounced [puˈβ̞likãn].

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 47575, this pair ranks #119,293 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of publicaban vs publican

Shared letters: abcilnpu. Private to "publicaban": -. Private to "publican": -.

"publicaban" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "publican" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • publicabanpbulicaban · ppublicaban · pubblicaban · pubilcaban · publciaban · publiacban · publicaabn · publicabann
  • publicanpbulican · ppublican · pubblican · pubilcan · publcian · publiacn · publicann · publiccan

Frequency comparison

publicaban#39,407
publican#8,168

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "publicaban" and "publican" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([puβ̞liˈkaβ̞ãn] versus [puˈβ̞likãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "publicaban" or "publican"?
"publican" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,168 in our Spanish list, against #39,407 for "publicaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering publicaban vs publican

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “publicaban” 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