contenganvscontentaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: contengan is a verb, contenta is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contengan” is a verb and “contenta” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,620
“contengan” frequency rank
#6,999
“contenta” frequency rank
27619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contengan contenta
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de contener o de contenerse. Endoso (en el comercio).

Where the eye mixes contengan and contenta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contengan runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against contenta's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
contengan
8 ch
contenta

Why the eye confuses contengan with contenta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contengan is [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgãn] while contenta is [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27619, 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]. contenta is at rank #6,999, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a].

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 27619, this pair ranks #225,956 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contengan vs contenta

Shared letters: acenot. Private to "contengan": g. Private to "contenta": -.

"contengan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contenta" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contengan ← ccontengan · cnotengan · conetngan · conntengan · contegnan · contenagn · contengann · contenggan
  • contenta ← ccontenta · cnotenta · conetnta · conntenta · contenat · contennta · contentta · contetna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contengan" for "contenta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contengan" is a verb and "contenta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "contengan" vs "contenta" - which ranks higher?
"contenta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,999 in our Spanish list, against #20,620 for "contengan". 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 "contengan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contenta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,956 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contengan" and "contenta" 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 #225,956 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