Which to use
“recibes” and “recibía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,700
- “recibes” frequency rank
- #11,848
- “recibía” frequency rank
- 27548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recibes | recibía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Segunda persona del singular (tú) 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 recibes and recibía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recibes (CVCVCVC) and recibía (CVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses recibes with recibía
A purely visual mix-up. recibes ([reˈsiβ̞es]) 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 27548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recibes is recorded at frequency rank #15,700, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈsiβ̞es]. 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 27548, this pair ranks #226,285 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recibes vs recibía
Shared letters: bceir. Private to "recibes": s. Private to "recibía": aí.
"recibes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "recibía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- recibes ← ercibes · rceibes · recbies · reccibes · recibbes · recibess · recibse · reciebs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "recibes" for "recibía" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "recibes" or "recibía" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "recibes" and "recibía" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "recibes" 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 #226,285 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recibes" 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 #226,285 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.