Which to use
“contamina” and “contaminan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,579
- “contamina” frequency rank
- #35,960
- “contaminan” frequency rank
- 68539
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contamina | contaminan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contaminar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contaminar. |
Where the eye mixes contamina and contaminan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. contamina runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against contaminan's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: contamina vs contaminan
A purely visual mix-up. contamina ([kõn̪t̪aˈmina]) and contaminan ([kõn̪t̪aˈminãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “contamina” sits inside “contaminan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contamina is recorded at frequency rank #32,579, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈmina]. contaminan is at rank #35,960, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈminãn].
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 68539, this pair ranks #34,243 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contamina vs contaminan
Shared letters: acimnot. Private to "contamina": -. Private to "contaminan": -.
"contamina" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "contaminan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contamina ← ccontamina · cnotamina · conatmina · conntamina · contaimna · contamian · contaminna · contammina
- contaminan ← ccontaminan · cnotaminan · conatminan · conntaminan · contaimnan · contamiann · contaminann · contaminnan
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contamina" and "contaminan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "contamina" vs "contaminan" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contamina" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contaminan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,243 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contamina" and "contaminan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contaminan vs contaminando". 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 #34,243 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.