contabavscontaríaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,872
“contaba” frequency rank
#26,771
“contaría” frequency rank
31643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contaba contaría
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de contar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del condicional de contar.

Where the eye mixes contaba and contaría

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

7 ch
contaba
8 ch
contaría

Visual trap between contaba and contaría

A purely visual mix-up. contaba ([kõn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]) and contaría ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾia]) 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 31643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contaba is recorded at frequency rank #4,872, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]. contaría is at rank #26,771, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈɾia].

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 31643, this pair ranks #206,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contaba vs contaría

Shared letters: acnot. Private to "contaba": b. Private to "contaría": .

"contaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "contaría" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contabaccontaba · cnotaba · conatba · conntaba · contaab · contabba · contava · contbaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contaba" and "contaría" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [kõn̪t̪aˈɾia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contaba" vs "contaría" - which ranks higher?
"contaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,872 in our Spanish list, against #26,771 for "contaría". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contaría" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contaba" and "contaría" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contaría vs cortarla". 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 #206,039 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