contactosvscontadosTell them apart

Quick tell: contactos is a noun, contados is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contactos” is a noun and “contados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,064
“contactos” frequency rank
#13,419
“contados” frequency rank
17483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contactos contados
Definition Forma del plural de contacto. Forma del plural de contado, participio de contar.

Where the eye mixes contactos and contados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
contactos
8 ch
contados

Why the eye confuses contactos with contados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contactos is [kõn̪ˈt̪akt̪os] while contados is [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞os]. 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 (noun vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contactos is recorded at frequency rank #4,064, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪akt̪os]. contados is at rank #13,419, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞os].

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 17483, this pair ranks #271,908 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contactos vs contados

Shared letters: acnost. Private to "contactos": -. Private to "contados": d.

"contactos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contados" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contactosccontactos · cnotactos · conatctos · conntactos · contacctos · contacots · contactoss · contactso
  • contadosccontados · cnotados · conatdos · conntados · contaddos · contadoss · contadso · contaods

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contactos" and "contados" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contactos" is a noun and "contados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "contactos" vs "contados" - which ranks higher?
"contactos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,064 in our Spanish list, against #13,419 for "contados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contactos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,908 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contactos" and "contados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contados vs cortador". 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 #271,908 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