Which to use
“obligan” and “obligar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,188
- “obligan” frequency rank
- #9,002
- “obligar” frequency rank
- 19190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obligan | obligar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de obligar o de obligarse. | Atar, ligar, precisar, mover eficazmente a alguna cosa, aunque sea repugnante al gusto y genio del que la ha de ejecutar. |
Where the eye mixes obligan and obligar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. obligan and obligar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: obligan vs obligar
A purely visual mix-up. obligan ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞ãn]) and obligar ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 - n in “obligan” becomes r in “obligar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obligan is recorded at frequency rank #10,188, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈβ̞liɣ̞ãn]. obligar is at rank #9,002, tagged as averb, pronounced [oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾ].
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 19190, this pair ranks #264,793 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obligan vs obligar
Shared letters: abgilo. Private to "obligan": n. Private to "obligar": r.
"obligan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "obligar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obligan" and "obligar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "obligan" vs "obligar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "obligan" and "obligar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "obligan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obligar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,793 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obligan" and "obligar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligar vs obligaría". 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 #264,793 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.