Which to use
“obtengan” and “obtenían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,144
- “obtengan” frequency rank
- #43,151
- “obtenían” frequency rank
- 63295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obtengan | obtenían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de obtener. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de obtener. |
Where the eye mixes obtengan and obtenían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses obtengan with obtenían
A purely visual mix-up. obtengan ([oβ̞ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]) and obtenían ([oβ̞t̪eˈniãn]) 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 - g in “obtengan” becomes í in “obtenían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obtengan is recorded at frequency rank #20,144, classified as averb, pronounced [oβ̞ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]. obtenían is at rank #43,151, tagged as averb, pronounced [oβ̞t̪eˈniãn].
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 63295, this pair ranks #49,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of obtengan vs obtenían
Shared letters: abenot. Private to "obtengan": g. Private to "obtenían": í.
"obtengan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "obtenían" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- obtengan ← botengan · obbtengan · obetngan · obtegnan · obtenagn · obtengann · obtenggan · obtengna
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obtengan" and "obtenían" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "obtengan" or "obtenían" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "obtengan" and "obtenían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "obtengan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obtenían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obtengan" and "obtenían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obtendrán vs obtenían". 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 #49,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.