Which to use
“contención” is a noun and “contenían” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,005
- “contención” frequency rank
- #19,965
- “contenían” frequency rank
- 32970
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contención | contenían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Litigio trabado entre partes. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de contener o de contenerse. |
Where the eye mixes contención and contenían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contención runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVVC) against contenían's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: contención vs contenían
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contención is [kõn̪t̪ẽnˈsjõn] while contenían is [kõn̪t̪eˈniãn]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contención is recorded at frequency rank #13,005, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ẽnˈsjõn]. contenían is at rank #19,965, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪eˈniãn].
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 32970, this pair ranks #199,245 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contención vs contenían
Shared letters: cenot. Private to "contención": ió. Private to "contenían": aí.
"contención" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "contenían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contención" for "contenían" ever safe?
Which is more common, "contención" or "contenían"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contención" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contenían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #199,245 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contención" and "contenían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "condenación vs contención". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #199,245 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.