contraídovscontratoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: contraído is a verb, contrato is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contraído” is a verb and “contrato” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,398
“contraído” frequency rank
#1,261
“contrato” frequency rank
31659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contraído contrato
Definition Participio de contraer o de contraerse. Acuerdo de palabra o por escrito mediante el que las partes implicadas se obligan mutuamente a llevar a cabo lo pactado y cuyo incumplimiento puede llevar a su ejecución forzada o a través de algún tipo de autoridad.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contraído and contrato apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
contraído
8 ch
contrato

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contraído is [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈið̞o] while contrato is [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contraído is recorded at frequency rank #30,398, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈið̞o]. contrato is at rank #1,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪o].

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 31659, this pair ranks #205,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contraído vs contrato

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contraído": . Private to "contrato": -.

"contraído" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV  ·  "contrato" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contratoccontrato · cnotrato · conntrato · conrtato · contarto · contraot · contratto · contrrato

Frequency comparison

contraído#30,398
contrato#1,261

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contraído" and "contrato" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contraído" is a verb and "contrato" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "contraído" or "contrato"?
"contrato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,261 in our Spanish list, against #30,398 for "contraído". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering contraído vs contrato

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “contraído”; for a noun, it's “contrato”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “contraído” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list