Which to use
“publican” is a verb and “públicos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,168
- “publican” frequency rank
- #1,224
- “públicos” frequency rank
- 9392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | publican | públicos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de publicar. | Forma del plural de público. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set publican and públicos apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: publican is [puˈβ̞likãn] while públicos is [ˈpuβ̞likos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
publican is recorded at frequency rank #8,168, classified as averb, pronounced [puˈβ̞likãn]. públicos is at rank #1,224, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpuβ̞likos].
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 9392, this pair ranks #302,085 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of publican vs públicos
Shared letters: bcilp. Private to "publican": anu. Private to "públicos": osú.
"publican" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "públicos" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- publican ← pbulican · ppublican · pubblican · pubilcan · publcian · publiacn · publicann · publiccan
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "publican" and "públicos" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "publican" or "públicos"?
Remembering publican vs públicos
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “publican”; for a noun, it's “públicos”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “publican” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable