constabavscontadaConfusable pair

Quick tell: constaba is a verb, contada is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“constaba” is a verb and “contada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,299
“constaba” frequency rank
#21,948
“contada” frequency rank
50247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature constaba contada
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de constar. Forma del femenino de contado, participio de contar.

Where the eye mixes constaba and contada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
constaba
7 ch
contada

Why the eye confuses constaba with contada

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: constaba is [kõnsˈt̪aβ̞a] while contada is [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

constaba is recorded at frequency rank #28,299, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnsˈt̪aβ̞a]. contada is at rank #21,948, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞a].

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 50247, this pair ranks #104,262 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of constaba vs contada

Shared letters: acnot. Private to "constaba": bs. Private to "contada": d.

"constaba" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "contada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • constabacconstaba · cnostaba · connstaba · consatba · consstaba · constaab · constabba · constava
  • contadaccontada · cnotada · conatda · conntada · contaad · contadda · contdaa · conttada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "constaba" for "contada" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "constaba" is a verb and "contada" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "constaba" or "contada"?
"contada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,948 in our Spanish list, against #28,299 for "constaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "constaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,262 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "constaba" and "contada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constaba vs constará". 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 #104,262 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