Which to use
“contemplaba” is a verb and “contempladas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,722
- “contemplaba” frequency rank
- #40,214
- “contempladas” frequency rank
- 71936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contemplaba | contempladas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de contemplar. | Forma del femenino plural de contemplado, participio de contemplar. |
Where the eye mixes contemplaba and contempladas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between contemplaba and contempladas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contemplaba is [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplaβ̞a] while contempladas is [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplað̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contemplaba is recorded at frequency rank #31,722, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplaβ̞a]. contempladas is at rank #40,214, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplað̞as].
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 71936, this pair ranks #26,426 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contemplaba vs contempladas
Shared letters: acelmnopt. Private to "contemplaba": b. Private to "contempladas": ds.
"contemplaba" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV · "contempladas" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contemplaba ← ccontemplaba · cnotemplaba · conetmplaba · conntemplaba · contemlpaba · contemmplaba · contempalba · contemplaab
- contempladas ← ccontempladas · cnotempladas · conetmpladas · conntempladas · contemlpadas · contemmpladas · contempaldas · contemplaads
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contemplaba" for "contempladas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "contemplaba" or "contempladas"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contemplaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contempladas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,426 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contemplaba" and "contempladas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contemplada vs contempladas". 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 #26,426 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.