cobravscontraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cobra is a noun, contra is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cobra” is a noun and “contra” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,878
“cobra” frequency rank
#13,117
“contra” frequency rank
36995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobra contra
Definition die Kobra gegen, wider

Letter map: cobra vs contra

Shared letters muted; letters that set cobra and contra apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
cobra
6 ch
contra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cobra is anoun and contraapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36995, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cobra is recorded at frequency rank #23,878, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. contra is at rank #13,117, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ˈkɔntʁa].

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 36995, this pair ranks #1,601,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cobra vs contra

Shared letters: acor. Private to "cobra": b. Private to "contra": nt.

"cobra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "contra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobracbora · ccobra · cobar · cobbra · cobrra · corba · ocbra
  • contraccontra · cnotra · conntra · conrta · contar · contrra · conttra · cotnra

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cobra" and "contra" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cobra" is a noun and "contra" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cobra" or "contra"?
"contra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,117 in our German list, against #23,878 for "cobra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "cobra" and "contra". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cobra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,601,468 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobra" and "contra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cobra vs puzzles". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list