Which to use
“reciben” and “recibía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,513
- “reciben” frequency rank
- #11,848
- “recibía” frequency rank
- 15361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reciben | recibía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. |
Where the eye mixes reciben and recibía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses reciben with recibía
A purely visual mix-up. reciben ([reˈsiβ̞ẽn]) and recibía ([resiˈβ̞ia]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reciben is recorded at frequency rank #3,513, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈsiβ̞ẽn]. recibía is at rank #11,848, tagged as averb, pronounced [resiˈβ̞ia].
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 15361, this pair ranks #280,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reciben vs recibía
Shared letters: bceir. Private to "reciben": n. Private to "recibía": aí.
"reciben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "recibía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- reciben ← erciben · rceiben · recbien · recciben · recibben · recibenn · recibne · reciebn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "reciben" and "recibía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "reciben" vs "recibía" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "reciben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recibía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #280,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reciben" and "recibía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recibía vs recicla". 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 #280,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.