contemplavscontempladoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,934
“contempla” frequency rank
#22,310
“contemplado” frequency rank
31244
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contempla contemplado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contemplar. Participio de contemplar.

Where the eye mixes contempla and contemplado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
contempla
11 ch
contemplado

Why the eye confuses contempla with contemplado

A purely visual mix-up. contempla ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽmpla]) and contemplado ([kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplað̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “contempla” sits inside “contemplado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contempla is recorded at frequency rank #8,934, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽmpla]. contemplado is at rank #22,310, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplað̞o].

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 31244, this pair ranks #208,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contempla vs contemplado

Shared letters: acelmnopt. Private to "contempla": -. Private to "contemplado": d.

"contempla" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "contemplado" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contemplaccontempla · cnotempla · conetmpla · conntempla · contemlpa · contemmpla · contempal · contemplla
  • contempladoccontemplado · cnotemplado · conetmplado · conntemplado · contemlpado · contemmplado · contempaldo · contempladdo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contempla" and "contemplado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽmpla] versus [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contempla" vs "contemplado" - which ranks higher?
"contempla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,934 in our Spanish list, against #22,310 for "contemplado". 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 "contempla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contemplado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #208,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contempla" and "contemplado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contemplado vs contemplo". 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 #208,045 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