contestarvscontestesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,230
“contestar” frequency rank
#26,377
“contestes” frequency rank
30607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes contestar and contestes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contestar and contestes 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
contestes

Visual trap between contestar and contestes

A purely visual mix-up. contestar ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ]) and contestes ([kõn̪ˈt̪est̪es]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30607, 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]. contestes is at rank #26,377, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪est̪es].

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 30607, this pair ranks #211,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contestar vs contestes

Shared letters: cenost. Private to "contestar": ar. Private to "contestes": -.

"contestar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "contestes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contestar ← ccontestar · cnotestar · conetstar · conntestar · contesatr · contesstar · contestarr · contestra
  • contestes ← ccontestes · cnotestes · conetstes · conntestes · contesets · contesstes · contestess · contestse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contestar" and "contestes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪esˈt̪aɾ] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪est̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contestar" or "contestes"?
"contestar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,230 in our Spanish list, against #26,377 for "contestes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contestar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contestes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #211,162 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contestar" and "contestes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contaste vs contestes". 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 #211,162 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