contratavscontratarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,561
“contrata” frequency rank
#5,189
“contratar” frequency rank
17750
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contrata contratar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contratar. Realizar un acuerdo, pacto o contrato.

Where the eye mixes contrata and contratar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
contrata
9 ch
contratar

Visual trap between contrata and contratar

A purely visual mix-up. contrata ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪a]) and contratar ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “contrata” sits inside “contratar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contrata is recorded at frequency rank #12,561, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪a]. contratar is at rank #5,189, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ].

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 17750, this pair ranks #270,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contrata vs contratar

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contrata": -. Private to "contratar": -.

"contrata" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "contratar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contrataccontrata · cnotrata · conntrata · conrtata · contarta · contraat · contratta · contrrata
  • contratarccontratar · cnotratar · conntratar · conrtatar · contartar · contraatr · contratarr · contratra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "contrata" for "contratar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪a] versus [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "contrata" vs "contratar" - which ranks higher?
"contratar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,189 in our Spanish list, against #12,561 for "contrata". 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 "contrata" and "contratar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contrata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contratar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contrata" and "contratar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "centrará vs contrata". 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 #270,857 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