consiguevscontiguoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: consigue is a verb, contiguo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“consigue” is a verb and “contiguo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,549
“consigue” frequency rank
#35,962
“contiguo” frequency rank
38511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature consigue contiguo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de conseguir o de conseguirse. Que está tocando a otra cosa.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set consigue and contiguo apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
consigue
8 ch
contiguo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: consigue is [kõnˈsiɣ̞e] while contiguo is [kõn̪ˈt̪iɣ̞wo]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

consigue is recorded at frequency rank #2,549, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnˈsiɣ̞e]. contiguo is at rank #35,962, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪iɣ̞wo].

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 38511, this pair ranks #169,632 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of consigue vs contiguo

Shared letters: cginou. Private to "consigue": es. Private to "contiguo": t.

"consigue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "contiguo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • consiguecconsigue · cnosigue · concigue · conisgue · connsigue · consgiue · consigeu · consiggue
  • contiguoccontiguo · cnotiguo · conitguo · conntiguo · contgiuo · contigguo · contigou · contiugo

Frequency comparison

consigue#2,549
contiguo#35,962

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "consigue" and "contiguo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "consigue" is a verb and "contiguo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "consigue" or "contiguo"?
"consigue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,549 in our Spanish list, against #35,962 for "contiguo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering consigue vs contiguo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “consigue”; for an adjective, it's “contiguo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “consigue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list