obligabanvsobligaronConfusable pair

Which to use

“obligaban” and “obligaron” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,238
“obligaban” frequency rank
#12,432
“obligaron” frequency rank
46670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obligaban obligaron
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de obligar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de obligar o de obligarse.

Where the eye mixes obligaban and obligaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
obligaban
9 ch
obligaron

Why the eye confuses obligaban with obligaron

A purely visual mix-up. obligaban ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and obligaron ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾõn]) 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 46670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obligaban is recorded at frequency rank #34,238, classified as averb, pronounced [oβ̞liˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]. obligaron is at rank #12,432, tagged as averb, pronounced [oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾõn].

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 46670, this pair ranks #124,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obligaban vs obligaron

Shared letters: abgilno. Private to "obligaban": -. Private to "obligaron": r.

"obligaban" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "obligaron" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obligabanboligaban · obbligaban · obilgaban · oblgiaban · obliagban · obligaabn · obligabann · obligabban
  • obligaronboligaron · obbligaron · obilgaron · oblgiaron · obliagron · obligaorn · obligarno · obligaronn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obligaban" and "obligaron" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "obligaban" vs "obligaron" - which ranks higher?
"obligaron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,432 in our Spanish list, against #34,238 for "obligaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obligaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obligaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #124,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obligaban" and "obligaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligaban vs obligará". 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 #124,446 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list