Which to use
“obtengan” and “ostentan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,144
- “obtengan” frequency rank
- #32,787
- “ostentan” frequency rank
- 52931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obtengan | ostentan |
|---|---|---|
| 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 presente de indicativo de ostentar. |
Where the eye mixes obtengan and ostentan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. obtengan and ostentan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses obtengan with ostentan
A purely visual mix-up. obtengan ([oβ̞ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]) and ostentan ([osˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn]) 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 52931, 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]. ostentan is at rank #32,787, tagged as averb, pronounced [osˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn].
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 52931, this pair ranks #90,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obtengan vs ostentan
Shared letters: aenot. Private to "obtengan": bg. Private to "ostentan": s.
"obtengan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "ostentan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "obtengan" and "ostentan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "obtengan" or "ostentan" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "obtengan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ostentan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obtengan" and "ostentan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obtenían vs ostentan". 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 #90,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.