Which to use
“contratada” is a participle and “contratas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,071
- “contratada” frequency rank
- #38,025
- “contratas” frequency rank
- 57096
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contratada | contratas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de contratado, participio de contratar. | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de contratar. |
Where the eye mixes contratada and contratas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contratada runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCVCV) against contratas's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between contratada and contratas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contratada is [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞a] while contratas is [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪as]. 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 (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contratada is recorded at frequency rank #19,071, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞a]. contratas is at rank #38,025, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪as].
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 57096, this pair ranks #71,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contratada vs contratas
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contratada": d. Private to "contratas": s.
"contratada" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV · "contratas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contratada ← ccontratada · cnotratada · conntratada · conrtatada · contartada · contraatda · contrataad · contratadda
- contratas ← ccontratas · cnotratas · conntratas · conrtatas · contartas · contraats · contratass · contratsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contratada" for "contratas" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contratada" or "contratas" show up more?
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 "contratada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contratas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contratada" and "contratas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contratamos 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 #71,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.