obligarvsobligaronTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,002
“obligar” frequency rank
#12,432
“obligaron” frequency rank
21434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obligar obligaron
Definition Atar, ligar, precisar, mover eficazmente a alguna cosa, aunque sea repugnante al gusto y genio del que la ha de ejecutar. 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 obligar and obligaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. obligar runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against obligaron's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
obligar
9 ch
obligaron

Look-alike desk: obligar vs obligaron

A purely visual mix-up. obligar ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “obligar” sits inside “obligaron”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obligar is recorded at frequency rank #9,002, classified as averb, pronounced [oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾ]. 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 21434, this pair ranks #254,950 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of obligar vs obligaron

Shared letters: abgilor. Private to "obligar": -. Private to "obligaron": n.

"obligar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "obligaron" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obligar ← boligar · obbligar · obilgar · oblgiar · obliagr · obligarr · obliggar · obligra
  • obligaron ← boligaron · obbligaron · obilgaron · oblgiaron · obliagron · obligaorn · obligarno · obligaronn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obligar" and "obligaron" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [oβ̞liˈɣ̞aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "obligar" vs "obligaron" - which ranks higher?
"obligar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,002 in our Spanish list, against #12,432 for "obligaron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "obligar" 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 #254,950 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obligar" and "obligaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligaría vs obligaron". 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 #254,950 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