contabanvscontaronTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,119
“contaban” frequency rank
#11,013
“contaron” frequency rank
23132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contaban contaron
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de contar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contar.

Where the eye mixes contaban and contaron

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

8 ch
contaban
8 ch
contaron

Why the eye confuses contaban with contaron

A purely visual mix-up. contaban ([kõn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and contaron ([kõn̪ˈt̪aɾõn]) 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 23132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contaban is recorded at frequency rank #12,119, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. contaron is at rank #11,013, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪aɾõn].

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 23132, this pair ranks #247,235 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contaban vs contaron

Shared letters: acnot. Private to "contaban": b. Private to "contaron": r.

"contaban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "contaron" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contabanccontaban · cnotaban · conatban · conntaban · contaabn · contabann · contabban · contabna
  • contaronccontaron · cnotaron · conatron · conntaron · contaorn · contarno · contaronn · contarron

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contaban" and "contaron" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contaban" vs "contaron" - which ranks higher?
"contaron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,013 in our Spanish list, against #12,119 for "contaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,235 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contaban" and "contaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "confiaban vs contaban". 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 #247,235 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