contaránvscontraeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“contarán” and “contrae” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,126
“contarán” frequency rank
#22,625
“contrae” frequency rank
51751
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contarán contrae
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de contar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contraer o de contraerse.

Where the eye mixes contarán and contrae

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. contarán runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against contrae's 7 (CVCCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
contarán
7 ch
contrae

Visual trap between contarán and contrae

A purely visual mix-up. contarán ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾãn]) and contrae ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾae]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contarán is recorded at frequency rank #29,126, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈɾãn]. contrae is at rank #22,625, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾae].

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 51751, this pair ranks #96,250 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contarán vs contrae

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contarán": á. Private to "contrae": e.

"contarán" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "contrae" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contrae ← ccontrae · cnotrae · conntrae · conrtae · contare · contrea · contrrae · conttrae

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contarán" and "contrae" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾãn] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾae]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contarán" or "contrae" show up more?
"contrae" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,625 in our Spanish list, against #29,126 for "contarán". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contarán" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contrae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,250 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contarán" and "contrae" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constará vs contarán". 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 #96,250 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