Which to use
“recibían” and “recibido” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,191
- “recibían” frequency rank
- #1,654
- “recibido” frequency rank
- 17845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recibían | recibido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de recibir o de recibirse. | Participio de recibir. |
Where the eye mixes recibían and recibido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses recibían with recibido
A purely visual mix-up. recibían ([resiˈβ̞iãn]) and recibido ([resiˈβ̞ið̞o]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recibían is recorded at frequency rank #16,191, classified as averb, pronounced [resiˈβ̞iãn]. recibido is at rank #1,654, tagged as averb, pronounced [resiˈβ̞ið̞o].
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 17845, this pair ranks #270,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of recibían vs recibido
Shared letters: bceir. Private to "recibían": aní. Private to "recibido": do.
"recibían" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "recibido" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- recibido ← ercibido · rceibido · recbiido · reccibido · recibbido · recibdio · recibiddo · recibiod
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "recibían" and "recibido" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "recibían" or "recibido"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "recibían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recibido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recibían" and "recibido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recibían vs recogían". 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 #270,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.