Which to use
“contar” and “costar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,192
- “contar” frequency rank
- #10,475
- “costar” frequency rank
- 11667
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contar | costar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enumerar un grupo de cosas pertenecientes a la misma clase. | Tener un valor en dinero. |
Where the eye mixes contar and costar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: contar vs costar
A purely visual mix-up. contar ([kõn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and costar ([kosˈt̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “contar” becomes s in “costar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contar is recorded at frequency rank #1,192, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪aɾ]. costar is at rank #10,475, tagged as averb, pronounced [kosˈt̪aɾ].
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 11667, this pair ranks #294,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of contar vs costar
Shared letters: acort. Private to "contar": n. Private to "costar": s.
"contar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "costar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contar" for "costar" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contar" or "costar" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "contar" and "costar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "costar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contar" and "costar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constará vs costar". 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 #294,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.