Which to use
“sostengo” and “sostenía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,020
- “sostengo” frequency rank
- #16,459
- “sostenía” frequency rank
- 43479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sostengo | sostenía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de sostener o de sostenerse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sostener o de sostenerse. |
Where the eye mixes sostengo and sostenía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sostengo (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: sostengo vs sostenía
A purely visual mix-up. sostengo ([sosˈt̪ẽŋgo]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sostengo is recorded at frequency rank #27,020, classified as averb, pronounced [sosˈt̪ẽŋgo]. 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 43479, this pair ranks #142,409 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sostengo vs sostenía
Shared letters: enost. Private to "sostengo": g. Private to "sostenía": aí.
"sostengo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "sostenía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sostengo ← osstengo · sosetngo · sosstengo · sostegno · sostenggo · sostenngo · sostenog · sostnego
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sostengo" and "sostenía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sostengo" or "sostenía" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sostengo" and "sostenía" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sostengo" 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 #142,409 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sostengo" and "sostenía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sosiego vs sostengo". 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 #142,409 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.