contaríavscortarlaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,771
“contaría” frequency rank
#49,542
“cortarla” frequency rank
76313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contaría cortarla
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del condicional de contar. Desistir.

Where the eye mixes contaría and cortarla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. contaría (CVCCVCVV) and cortarla (CVCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
contaría
8 ch
cortarla

Why the eye confuses contaría with cortarla

A purely visual mix-up. contaría ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾia]) and cortarla ([koɾˈt̪aɾla]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contaría is recorded at frequency rank #26,771, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪aˈɾia]. cortarla is at rank #49,542, tagged as averb, pronounced [koɾˈt̪aɾla].

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 76313, this pair ranks #17,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contaría vs cortarla

Shared letters: acort. Private to "contaría": ní. Private to "cortarla": l.

"contaría" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "cortarla" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortarla ← ccortarla · coratrla · corrtarla · cortalra · cortaral · cortarlla · cortarrla · cortrala

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contaría" and "cortarla" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪aˈɾia] versus [koɾˈt̪aɾla]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contaría" vs "cortarla" - which ranks higher?
"contaría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,771 in our Spanish list, against #49,542 for "cortarla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contaría" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cortarla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,974 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contaría" and "cortarla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cortaba vs cortarla". 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 #17,974 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