contravscoraTell them apart

Quick tell: contra is a preposition, cora is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contra” is a preposition and “cora” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#129
“contra” frequency rank
#18,776
“cora” frequency rank
18905
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contra cora
Definition Indica oposición. Antigua división territorial de la España musulmana.

Where the eye mixes contra and cora

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
contra
4 ch
cora

Visual trap between contra and cora

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contra is [ˈkõn̪t̪ɾa] while cora is [ˈkoɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contra is recorded at frequency rank #129, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈkõn̪t̪ɾa]. cora is at rank #18,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkoɾa].

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 18905, this pair ranks #265,980 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contra vs cora

Shared letters: acor. Private to "contra": nt. Private to "cora": -.

"contra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "cora" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contraccontra · cnotra · conntra · conrta · contrra · conttra · cotnra · ocntra
  • coraccora · coar · croa · ocra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contra" and "cora" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contra" is a preposition and "cora" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "contra" vs "cora" - which ranks higher?
"contra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #129 in our Spanish list, against #18,776 for "cora". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "contra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cora" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,980 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contra" and "cora" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coin vs cora". 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 #265,980 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