Which to use
“contrastan” and “contraten” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,601
- “contrastan” frequency rank
- #35,432
- “contraten” frequency rank
- 74033
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contrastan | contraten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contrastar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de contratar. |
Where the eye mixes contrastan and contraten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contrastan runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCVC) against contraten's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: contrastan vs contraten
A purely visual mix-up. contrastan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾast̪ãn]) and contraten ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ẽn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contrastan is recorded at frequency rank #38,601, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾast̪ãn]. contraten is at rank #35,432, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ẽn].
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 74033, this pair ranks #22,089 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contrastan vs contraten
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contrastan": s. Private to "contraten": e.
"contrastan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC · "contraten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contrastan ← ccontrastan · cnotrastan · conntrastan · conrtastan · contarstan · contrasatn · contrasstan · contrastann
- contraten ← ccontraten · cnotraten · conntraten · conrtaten · contarten · contraetn · contratenn · contratne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contrastan" and "contraten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contrastan" or "contraten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "contrastan" and "contraten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contrastan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contraten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,089 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contrastan" and "contraten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrastan vs contratas". 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 #22,089 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.