Which to use
“sostenga” and “sostenía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,884
- “sostenga” frequency rank
- #16,459
- “sostenía” frequency rank
- 49343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sostenga | sostenía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de sostener o de sostenerse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sostener o de sostenerse. |
Where the eye mixes sostenga and sostenía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. sostenga (CVCCVCCV) and sostenía (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: sostenga vs sostenía
A purely visual mix-up. sostenga ([sosˈt̪ẽŋga]) and sostenía ([sost̪eˈnia]) 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 “sostenga” becomes í in “sostenía”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sostenga is recorded at frequency rank #32,884, classified as averb, pronounced [sosˈt̪ẽŋga]. sostenía is at rank #16,459, tagged as averb, pronounced [sost̪eˈnia].
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 49343, this pair ranks #109,382 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sostenga vs sostenía
Shared letters: aenost. Private to "sostenga": g. Private to "sostenía": í.
"sostenga" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "sostenía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sostenga ← osstenga · sosetnga · sosstenga · sostegna · sostenag · sostengga · sostennga · sostnega
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sostenga" for "sostenía" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sostenga" or "sostenía"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sostenga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sostenía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #109,382 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sostenga" and "sostenía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sostenga vs sostenían". 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 #109,382 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.