obligadasvsobligadosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,431
“obligadas” frequency rank
#4,733
“obligados” frequency rank
20164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obligadas obligados
Definition Forma del femenino plural de obligado, participio de obligar o de obligarse. Forma del plural de obligado, participio de obligar o de obligarse.

Where the eye mixes obligadas and obligados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. obligadas and obligados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
obligadas
9 ch
obligados

Look-alike desk: obligadas vs obligados

A purely visual mix-up. obligadas ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞að̞as]) and obligados ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞að̞os]) 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 a single letter - a in “obligadas” becomes o in “obligados”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obligadas is recorded at frequency rank #15,431, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [oβ̞liˈɣ̞að̞as]. obligados is at rank #4,733, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [oβ̞liˈɣ̞að̞os].

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 20164, this pair ranks #260,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of obligadas vs obligados

Shared letters: abdgilos. Private to "obligadas": -. Private to "obligados": -.

"obligadas" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "obligados" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obligadas ← boligadas · obbligadas · obilgadas · oblgiadas · obliagdas · obligaads · obligadass · obligaddas
  • obligados ← boligados · obbligados · obilgados · oblgiados · obliagdos · obligaddos · obligadoss · obligadso

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obligadas" and "obligados" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞að̞as] versus [oβ̞liˈɣ̞að̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obligadas" or "obligados"?
"obligados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,733 in our Spanish list, against #15,431 for "obligadas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obligadas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obligados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #260,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obligadas" and "obligados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligaban vs obligadas". 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 #260,523 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