Which to use
“obligan” and “obliguen” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,188
- “obligan” frequency rank
- #31,024
- “obliguen” frequency rank
- 41212
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obligan | obliguen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de obligar o de obligarse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de obligar o de obligarse. |
Where the eye mixes obligan and obliguen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. obligan runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against obliguen's 8 (VCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses obligan with obliguen
A purely visual mix-up. obligan ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞ãn]) and obliguen ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞ẽn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41212, 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]. obliguen is at rank #31,024, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈβ̞liɣ̞ẽn].
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 41212, this pair ranks #154,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obligan vs obliguen
Shared letters: bgilno. Private to "obligan": a. Private to "obliguen": eu.
"obligan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "obliguen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "obligan" and "obliguen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "obligan" or "obliguen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "obligan" and "obliguen" 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 "obliguen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #154,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obligan" and "obliguen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obliguen 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 #154,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.