contadavscontadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: contada is a participle, contado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#21,948
“contada” frequency rank
#4,873
“contado” frequency rank
26821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contada contado
Definition Forma del femenino de contado, participio de contar. Raro, escaso.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contada and contado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
contada
7 ch
contado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

contada and contado form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - a in “contada” becomes o in “contado” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contada is recorded at frequency rank #21,948, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞a]. contado is at rank #4,873, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪að̞o].

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 26821, this pair ranks #229,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

contada#21,948
contado#4,873

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contada" and "contado" be used interchangeably?
No, "contada" and "contado" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering contada vs contado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “contada”; for an adjective, it's “contado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “contada” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list