contaránvscortabanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,126
“contarán” frequency rank
#44,666
“cortaban” frequency rank
73792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contarán cortaban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de contar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cortar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contarán and cortaban apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
contarán
8 ch
cortaban

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. contarán ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾãn]) and cortaban ([koɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73792, 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]. cortaban is at rank #44,666, tagged as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn].

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 73792, this pair ranks #22,590 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contarán vs cortaban

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contarán": á. Private to "cortaban": b.

"contarán" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "cortaban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortabanccortaban · coratban · corrtaban · cortaabn · cortabann · cortabban · cortabna · cortavan

Frequency comparison

contarán#29,126
cortaban#44,666

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contarán" and "cortaban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾãn] versus [koɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contarán" or "cortaban"?
"contarán" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,126 in our Spanish list, against #44,666 for "cortaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contarán vs cortaban

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “contarán” 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