contactarvscontactaronConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,996
“contactar” frequency rank
#41,819
“contactaron” frequency rank
48815
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contactar contactaron
Definition Ponerse en contacto con alguien. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contactar.

Where the eye mixes contactar and contactaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. contactar runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against contactaron's 11 (CVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
contactar
11 ch
contactaron

Visual trap between contactar and contactaron

A purely visual mix-up. contactar ([kõn̪t̪akˈt̪aɾ]) and contactaron ([kõn̪t̪akˈt̪aɾõn]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “contactar” sits inside “contactaron”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contactar is recorded at frequency rank #6,996, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪akˈt̪aɾ]. contactaron is at rank #41,819, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪akˈt̪aɾõn].

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 48815, this pair ranks #112,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contactar vs contactaron

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contactar": -. Private to "contactaron": -.

"contactar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contactaron" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contactar ← ccontactar · cnotactar · conatctar · conntactar · contacatr · contacctar · contactarr · contactra
  • contactaron ← ccontactaron · cnotactaron · conatctaron · conntactaron · contacatron · contacctaron · contactaorn · contactarno

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contactar" for "contactaron" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪akˈt̪aɾ] versus [kõn̪t̪akˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contactar" vs "contactaron" - which ranks higher?
"contactar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,996 in our Spanish list, against #41,819 for "contactaron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contactar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contactaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #112,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contactar" and "contactaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contactaron vs contestaron". 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 #112,372 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