Which to use
“castigar” and “castigue” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,417
- “castigar” frequency rank
- #32,125
- “castigue” frequency rank
- 41542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | castigar | castigue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Imponer un castigo al que ha delinquido, infringido una regla o faltado en alguna cosa. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de castigar o de castigarse. |
Where the eye mixes castigar and castigue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. castigar (CVCCVCVC) and castigue (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses castigar with castigue
A purely visual mix-up. castigar ([kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]) and castigue ([kasˈt̪iɣ̞e]) 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 41542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
castigar is recorded at frequency rank #9,417, classified as averb, pronounced [kast̪iˈɣ̞aɾ]. castigue is at rank #32,125, tagged as averb, pronounced [kasˈt̪iɣ̞e].
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 41542, this pair ranks #153,094 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of castigar vs castigue
Shared letters: acgist. Private to "castigar": r. Private to "castigue": eu.
"castigar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "castigue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "castigar" and "castigue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "castigar" vs "castigue" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "castigar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "castigue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #153,094 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "castigar" and "castigue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "castigan vs castigue". 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 #153,094 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.