Which to use
“contamina” and “contaminar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,579
- “contamina” frequency rank
- #31,284
- “contaminar” frequency rank
- 63863
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contamina | contaminar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contaminar. | Inmiscuir una cosa con otra de diferente naturaleza. |
Where the eye mixes contamina and contaminar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between contamina and contaminar
A purely visual mix-up. contamina ([kõn̪t̪aˈmina]) and contaminar ([kõn̪t̪amiˈnaɾ]) 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 “contaminar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63863, 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]. contaminar is at rank #31,284, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪amiˈnaɾ].
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 63863, this pair ranks #47,342 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contamina vs contaminar
Shared letters: acimnot. Private to "contamina": -. Private to "contaminar": r.
"contamina" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "contaminar" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contamina ← ccontamina · cnotamina · conatmina · conntamina · contaimna · contamian · contaminna · contammina
- contaminar ← ccontaminar · cnotaminar · conatminar · conntaminar · contaimnar · contamianr · contaminarr · contaminnar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contamina" for "contaminar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "contamina" or "contaminar"?
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 "contaminar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,342 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contamina" and "contaminar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Container vs contaminar". 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 #47,342 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.