Which to use
“candado” is a noun and “contado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,048
- “candado” frequency rank
- #4,873
- “contado” frequency rank
- 23921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | candado | contado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cerradura suelta, encerrada en una caja metálica y que por medio de una armella sirve para cerrar cualquier tipo de puerta batiente o deslizante. | Raro, escaso. |
Where the eye mixes candado and contado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses candado with contado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: candado is [kãn̪ˈd̪að̞o] while contado is [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
candado is recorded at frequency rank #19,048, classified as anoun, pronounced [kãn̪ˈd̪að̞o]. contado is at rank #4,873, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞o].
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 23921, this pair ranks #243,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of candado vs contado
Shared letters: acdno. Private to "candado": -. Private to "contado": t.
"candado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "contado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "candado" for "contado" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "candado" or "contado" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "candado" and "contado" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "candado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "candado" and "contado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "candado vs cenado". 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 #243,552 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.