Which to use
“cinco” is a num and “contó” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #396
- “cinco” frequency rank
- #2,598
- “contó” frequency rank
- 2994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cinco | contó |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cuatro y uno. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contar. |
Where the eye mixes cinco and contó
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cinco vs contó
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cinco is [ˈsĩŋko] while contó is [kõn̪ˈt̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cinco is recorded at frequency rank #396, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈsĩŋko]. contó is at rank #2,598, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪o].
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 2994, this pair ranks #319,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cinco vs contó
Shared letters: cno. Private to "cinco": i. Private to "contó": tó.
"cinco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "contó" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cinco ← ccinco · cicno · cincco · cinnco · cinoc · cnico · icnco · sinco
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cinco" and "contó" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cinco" or "contó" show up more?
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 "cinco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #319,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cinco" and "contó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contó vs count". 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 #319,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.