oían vs oigan, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#47,975
“oían” frequency rank: #11,634
“oigan” frequency rank: 59609
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	oían	oigan
Definition	Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de oír.	Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de oír.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oían and oigan apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

oían

5 ch

oigan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. oían ([oˈiãn]) and oigan ([ˈojɣ̞ãn]) 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 59609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oían is recorded at frequency rank #47,975, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈiãn]. oigan is at rank #11,634, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈojɣ̞ãn].

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 59609, this pair ranks #61,997 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of oían vs oigan

Shared letters: ano. Private to "oían": í. Private to "oigan": gi.

"oían" · 4 letters · shape VVVC · "oigan" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

oigan ← iogan · ogian · oiagn · oigann · oiggan · oigna

Frequency comparison

oían#47,975

oigan#11,634

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oían" and "oigan" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([oˈiãn] versus [ˈojɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "oían" or "oigan"?

"oigan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,634 in our Spanish list, against #47,975 for "oían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oían vs oigan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “oían” entry
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