contemplanvscontemplandoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,194
“contemplan” frequency rank
#24,443
“contemplando” frequency rank
49637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contemplan contemplando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contemplar. Gerundio de contemplar.

Where the eye mixes contemplan and contemplando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
contemplan
12 ch
contemplando

Visual trap between contemplan and contemplando

A purely visual mix-up. contemplan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽmplãn]) and contemplando ([kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplãn̪d̪o]) 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) - “contemplan” sits inside “contemplando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contemplan is recorded at frequency rank #25,194, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽmplãn]. contemplando is at rank #24,443, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplãn̪d̪o].

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 49637, this pair ranks #107,703 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contemplan vs contemplando

Shared letters: acelmnopt. Private to "contemplan": -. Private to "contemplando": d.

"contemplan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC  ·  "contemplando" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contemplanccontemplan · cnotemplan · conetmplan · conntemplan · contemlpan · contemmplan · contempaln · contemplann
  • contemplandoccontemplando · cnotemplando · conetmplando · conntemplando · contemlpando · contemmplando · contempalndo · contempladno

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contemplan" and "contemplando" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽmplãn] versus [kõn̪t̪ẽmˈplãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contemplan" or "contemplando" show up more?
"contemplando" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,443 in our Spanish list, against #25,194 for "contemplan". 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 "contemplan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contemplando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,703 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contemplan" and "contemplando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contemplan 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 #107,703 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