consistevscontasteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,244
“consiste” frequency rank
#34,027
“contaste” frequency rank
36271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature consiste contaste
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de consistir. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contar.

Where the eye mixes consiste and contaste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. consiste and contaste follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
consiste
8 ch
contaste

Look-alike desk: consiste vs contaste

A purely visual mix-up. consiste ([kõnˈsist̪e]) and contaste ([kõn̪ˈt̪ast̪e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

consiste is recorded at frequency rank #2,244, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnˈsist̪e]. contaste is at rank #34,027, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ast̪e].

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 36271, this pair ranks #181,506 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of consiste vs contaste

Shared letters: cenost. Private to "consiste": i. Private to "contaste": a.

"consiste" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "contaste" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • consiste ← cconsiste · cnosiste · conciste · conisste · connsiste · consiset · consisste · consistte
  • contaste ← ccontaste · cnotaste · conatste · conntaste · contaset · contasste · contastte · contatse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "consiste" for "contaste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõnˈsist̪e] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ast̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "consiste" or "contaste"?
"consiste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,244 in our Spanish list, against #34,027 for "contaste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "consiste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contaste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #181,506 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "consiste" and "contaste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contarse vs contaste". 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 #181,506 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