obliganvsobligueWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,188
“obligan” frequency rank
#20,142
“obligue” frequency rank
30330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obligan obligue
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de obligar o de obligarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de obligar o de obligarse.

Where the eye mixes obligan and obligue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
obligan
7 ch
obligue

Look-alike desk: obligan vs obligue

A purely visual mix-up. obligan ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞ãn]) and obligue ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞e]) 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 30330, 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]. obligue is at rank #20,142, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈβ̞liɣ̞e].

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 30330, this pair ranks #212,514 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obligan vs obligue

Shared letters: bgilo. Private to "obligan": an. Private to "obligue": eu.

"obligan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "obligue" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obliganboligan · obbligan · obilgan · oblgian · obliagn · obligann · obliggan · obligna
  • obligueboligue · obbligue · obilgue · oblgiue · obligeu · obliggue · obliuge · oblligue

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obligan" and "obligue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞ãn] versus [oˈβ̞liɣ̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obligan" or "obligue"?
"obligan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,188 in our Spanish list, against #20,142 for "obligue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "obligan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obligue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #212,514 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obligan" and "obligue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligue vs obligues". 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 #212,514 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