condenaciónvscontenciónWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“condenación” and “contención” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,307
“condenación” frequency rank
#13,005
“contención” frequency rank
61312
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature condenación contención
Definition Acción o efecto de condenar. Litigio trabado entre partes.

Where the eye mixes condenación and contención

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. condenación runs 11 letters (CVCCVCVCVVC) against contención's 10 (CVCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
condenación
10 ch
contención

Look-alike desk: condenación vs contención

A purely visual mix-up. condenación ([kõn̪d̪enaˈsjõn]) and contención ([kõn̪t̪ẽnˈsjõn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

condenación is recorded at frequency rank #48,307, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪d̪enaˈsjõn]. contención is at rank #13,005, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽnˈsjõn].

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 61312, this pair ranks #55,888 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of condenación vs contención

Shared letters: ceinoó. Private to "condenación": ad. Private to "contención": t.

"condenación" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVVC  ·  "contención" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "condenación" and "contención" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪d̪enaˈsjõn] versus [kõn̪t̪ẽnˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "condenación" or "contención" show up more?
"contención" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,005 in our Spanish list, against #48,307 for "condenación". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "condenación" and "contención" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "condenación" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contención" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,888 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "condenación" and "contención" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "condenación vs condensación". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #55,888 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list