contestarvscontestaronWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,230
“contestar” frequency rank
#25,578
“contestaron” frequency rank
29808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contestar contestaron
Definition Responder por escrito, de palabra o por señas. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contestar.

Where the eye mixes contestar and contestaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. contestar runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against contestaron's 11 (CVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
contestar
11 ch
contestaron

Look-alike desk: contestar vs contestaron

A purely visual mix-up. contestar ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ]) and contestaron ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾõn]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “contestar” sits inside “contestaron”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contestar is recorded at frequency rank #4,230, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ]. contestaron is at rank #25,578, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾõn].

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 29808, this pair ranks #215,160 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contestar vs contestaron

Shared letters: acenorst. Private to "contestar": -. Private to "contestaron": -.

"contestar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contestaron" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contestar ← ccontestar · cnotestar · conetstar · conntestar · contesatr · contesstar · contestarr · contestra
  • contestaron ← ccontestaron · cnotestaron · conetstaron · conntestaron · contesatron · contesstaron · contestaorn · contestarno

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contestar" and "contestaron" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ] versus [kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contestar" or "contestaron"?
"contestar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,230 in our Spanish list, against #25,578 for "contestaron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contestar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contestaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,160 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contestar" and "contestaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contactaron vs contestaron". 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 #215,160 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