contestarvscontestasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,230
“contestar” frequency rank
#24,805
“contestas” frequency rank
29035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contestar contestas
Definition Responder por escrito, de palabra o por señas. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de contestar.

Where the eye mixes contestar and contestas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contestar and contestas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
contestar
9 ch
contestas

Look-alike desk: contestar vs contestas

A purely visual mix-up. contestar ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ]) and contestas ([kõn̪ˈt̪est̪as]) 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 - r in “contestar” becomes s in “contestas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29035, 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]. contestas is at rank #24,805, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪est̪as].

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 29035, this pair ranks #218,999 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contestar vs contestas

Shared letters: acenost. Private to "contestar": r. Private to "contestas": -.

"contestar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contestas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contestar ← ccontestar · cnotestar · conetstar · conntestar · contesatr · contesstar · contestarr · contestra
  • contestas ← ccontestas · cnotestas · conetstas · conntestas · contesats · contesstas · contestass · contestsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contestar" for "contestas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪est̪as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contestar" or "contestas"?
"contestar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,230 in our Spanish list, against #24,805 for "contestas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contestar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contestas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #218,999 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contestar" and "contestas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contestas vs contestaste". 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 #218,999 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