obligovsobligueTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,023
“obligo” frequency rank
#20,142
“obligue” frequency rank
51165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obligo obligue
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) 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 obligo and obligue

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

6 ch
obligo
7 ch
obligue

Look-alike desk: obligo vs obligue

A purely visual mix-up. obligo ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞o]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obligo is recorded at frequency rank #31,023, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈβ̞liɣ̞o]. 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 51165, this pair ranks #99,335 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obligo vs obligue

Shared letters: bgilo. Private to "obligo": -. Private to "obligue": eu.

"obligo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "obligue" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obligoboligo · obbligo · obilgo · oblgio · obliggo · obliog · oblligo · olbigo
  • obligueboligue · obbligue · obilgue · oblgiue · obligeu · obliggue · obliuge · oblligue

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "obligo" and "obligue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([oˈβ̞liɣ̞o] versus [oˈβ̞liɣ̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obligo" or "obligue"?
"obligue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,142 in our Spanish list, against #31,023 for "obligo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "obligo" 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 #99,335 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obligo" 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 #99,335 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