Which to use
“recibía” and “recibían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,848
- “recibía” frequency rank
- #16,191
- “recibían” frequency rank
- 28039
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recibía | recibían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. |
Where the eye mixes recibía and recibían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. recibía runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against recibían's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: recibía vs recibían
A purely visual mix-up. recibía ([resiˈβ̞ia]) and recibían ([resiˈβ̞iãn]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “recibía” sits inside “recibían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recibía is recorded at frequency rank #11,848, classified as averb, pronounced [resiˈβ̞ia]. recibían is at rank #16,191, tagged as averb, pronounced [resiˈβ̞iãn].
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 28039, this pair ranks #223,957 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recibía vs recibían
Shared letters: abceirí. Private to "recibía": -. Private to "recibían": n.
"recibía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "recibían" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recibía" and "recibían" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "recibía" or "recibían"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "recibía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recibían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #223,957 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recibía" and "recibían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recibían vs recogían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #223,957 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.