contemporáneavscontemporáneosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,389
“contemporánea” frequency rank
#9,609
“contemporáneos” frequency rank
15998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contemporánea contemporáneos
Definition Forma del femenino de contemporáneo. Forma del plural de contemporáneo.

Where the eye mixes contemporánea and contemporáneos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. contemporánea runs 13 letters (CVCCVCCVCVCVV) against contemporáneos's 14 (CVCCVCCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

13 ch
contemporánea
14 ch
contemporáneos

Look-alike desk: contemporánea vs contemporáneos

A purely visual mix-up. contemporánea ([kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾanea]) and contemporáneos ([kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneos]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contemporánea is recorded at frequency rank #6,389, classified as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾanea]. contemporáneos is at rank #9,609, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneos].

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 15998, this pair ranks #277,933 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contemporánea vs contemporáneos

Shared letters: cemnoprtá. Private to "contemporánea": a. Private to "contemporáneos": s.

"contemporánea" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVCVV  ·  "contemporáneos" · 14 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contemporánea" for "contemporáneos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾanea] versus [kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contemporánea" or "contemporáneos" show up more?
"contemporánea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,389 in our Spanish list, against #9,609 for "contemporáneos". 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 "contemporánea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contemporáneos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #277,933 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contemporánea" and "contemporáneos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contemporáneas vs contemporáneos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #277,933 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