contarsevscontasteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,481
“contarse” frequency rank
#34,027
“contaste” frequency rank
77508
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contarse contaste
Definition Contar (uso pronominal de ...) Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contar.

Where the eye mixes contarse and contaste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
contarse
8 ch
contaste

Why the eye confuses contarse with contaste

A purely visual mix-up. contarse ([kõn̪ˈt̪aɾse]) and contaste ([kõn̪ˈt̪ast̪e]) 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 77508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contarse is recorded at frequency rank #43,481, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪aɾse]. contaste is at rank #34,027, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ast̪e].

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 77508, this pair ranks #15,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contarse vs contaste

Shared letters: acenost. Private to "contarse": r. Private to "contaste": -.

"contarse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "contaste" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contarseccontarse · cnotarse · conatrse · conntarse · contarce · contares · contarrse · contarsse
  • contasteccontaste · cnotaste · conatste · conntaste · contaset · contasste · contastte · contatse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contarse" for "contaste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪aɾse] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ast̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contarse" or "contaste"?
"contaste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,027 in our Spanish list, against #43,481 for "contarse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contarse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contaste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,901 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contarse" and "contaste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "citarse vs contarse". 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 #15,901 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