contestadovscontestanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,059
“contestado” frequency rank
#19,967
“contestan” frequency rank
35026
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contestado contestan
Definition Participio de contestar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contestar.

Where the eye mixes contestado and contestan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contestado runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against contestan's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
contestado
9 ch
contestan

Look-alike desk: contestado vs contestan

A purely visual mix-up. contestado ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪að̞o]) and contestan ([kõn̪ˈt̪est̪ãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contestado is recorded at frequency rank #15,059, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪esˈt̪að̞o]. contestan is at rank #19,967, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪est̪ãn].

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 35026, this pair ranks #188,257 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contestado vs contestan

Shared letters: acenost. Private to "contestado": d. Private to "contestan": -.

"contestado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "contestan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contestadoccontestado · cnotestado · conetstado · conntestado · contesatdo · contesstado · contestaddo · contestaod
  • contestanccontestan · cnotestan · conetstan · conntestan · contesatn · contesstan · contestann · contestna

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contestado" and "contestan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪að̞o] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪est̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contestado" vs "contestan" - which ranks higher?
"contestado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,059 in our Spanish list, against #19,967 for "contestan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "contestado" and "contestan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contestado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contestan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #188,257 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contestado" and "contestan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contestan vs contrastan". 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 #188,257 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