Which to use
“contengan” and “contenían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,620
- “contengan” frequency rank
- #19,965
- “contenían” frequency rank
- 40585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contengan | contenían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de contener o de contenerse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de contener o de contenerse. |
Where the eye mixes contengan and contenían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contengan (CVCCVCCVC) and contenían (CVCCVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: contengan vs contenían
A purely visual mix-up. contengan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]) and contenían ([kõn̪t̪eˈniãn]) 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 a single letter - g in “contengan” becomes í in “contenían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contengan is recorded at frequency rank #20,620, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]. 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 40585, this pair ranks #158,295 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contengan vs contenían
Shared letters: acenot. Private to "contengan": g. Private to "contenían": í.
"contengan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "contenían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contengan ← ccontengan · cnotengan · conetngan · conntengan · contegnan · contenagn · contengann · contenggan
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contengan" and "contenían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contengan" or "contenían" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contengan" 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 #158,295 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contengan" and "contenían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contengan vs contentar". 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 #158,295 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.