contengavsconveníaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,929
“contenga” frequency rank
#29,130
“convenía” frequency rank
47059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contenga convenía
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de contener o de contenerse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de convenir.

Where the eye mixes contenga and convenía

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. contenga (CVCCVCCV) and convenía (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
contenga
8 ch
convenía

Visual trap between contenga and convenía

A purely visual mix-up. contenga ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga]) and convenía ([kõmbeˈnia]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contenga is recorded at frequency rank #17,929, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga]. convenía is at rank #29,130, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõmbeˈnia].

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 47059, this pair ranks #122,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contenga vs convenía

Shared letters: aceno. Private to "contenga": gt. Private to "convenía": ví.

"contenga" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "convenía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contenga ← ccontenga · cnotenga · conetnga · conntenga · contegna · contenag · contengga · contennga

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contenga" for "convenía" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga] versus [kõmbeˈnia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contenga" or "convenía"?
"contenga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,929 in our Spanish list, against #29,130 for "convenía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contenga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "convenía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contenga" and "convenía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "convencí vs convenía". 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 #122,178 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