contemporáneovscontemporáneosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,998
“contemporáneo” frequency rank
#9,609
“contemporáneos” frequency rank
16607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contemporáneo contemporáneos
Definition Que se desarrolla o existe al mismo tiempo que otra cosa. Forma del plural de contemporáneo.

Where the eye mixes contemporáneo and contemporáneos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 13 letters in sequence. contemporáneo 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
contemporáneo
14 ch
contemporáneos

Visual trap between contemporáneo and contemporáneos

A purely visual mix-up. contemporáneo ([kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneo]) 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 extra letter(s) - “contemporáneo” sits inside “contemporáneos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contemporáneo is recorded at frequency rank #6,998, classified as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneo]. 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 16607, this pair ranks #275,460 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contemporáneo vs contemporáneos

Shared letters: cemnoprtá. Private to "contemporáneo": -. Private to "contemporáneos": s.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contemporáneo" for "contemporáneos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneo] versus [kõn̪t̪ẽmpoˈɾaneos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contemporáneo" or "contemporáneos" show up more?
"contemporáneo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,998 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contemporáneo" 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 #275,460 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contemporáneo" and "contemporáneos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contemporáneas vs contemporáneos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #275,460 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