Which to use
“ostentan” and “ostentar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,787
- “ostentan” frequency rank
- #34,248
- “ostentar” frequency rank
- 67035
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ostentan | ostentar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ostentar. | Mostrar o hacer patente una cosa. Presentar ante la vista. |
Where the eye mixes ostentan and ostentar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ostentan and ostentar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between ostentan and ostentar
A purely visual mix-up. ostentan ([osˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn]) and ostentar ([ost̪ẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) 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 - n in “ostentan” becomes r in “ostentar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ostentan is recorded at frequency rank #32,787, classified as averb, pronounced [osˈt̪ẽn̪t̪ãn]. ostentar is at rank #34,248, tagged as averb, pronounced [ost̪ẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ].
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 67035, this pair ranks #38,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ostentan vs ostentar
Shared letters: aenost. Private to "ostentan": -. Private to "ostentar": r.
"ostentan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "ostentar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ostentan" and "ostentar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ostentan" vs "ostentar" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ostentan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ostentar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ostentan" and "ostentar" 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 #38,203 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.