contratadovscontratanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,532
“contratado” frequency rank
#23,001
“contratan” frequency rank
30533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contratado contratan
Definition Participio de contratar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contratar.

Where the eye mixes contratado and contratan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contratado runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCVCV) against contratan's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
contratado
9 ch
contratan

Look-alike desk: contratado vs contratan

A purely visual mix-up. contratado ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]) and contratan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn]) 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 30533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contratado is recorded at frequency rank #7,532, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]. contratan is at rank #23,001, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn].

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 30533, this pair ranks #211,525 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contratado vs contratan

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contratado": d. Private to "contratan": -.

"contratado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "contratan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contratadoccontratado · cnotratado · conntratado · conrtatado · contartado · contraatdo · contrataddo · contrataod
  • contratanccontratan · cnotratan · conntratan · conrtatan · contartan · contraatn · contratann · contratna

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contratado" and "contratan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contratado" or "contratan"?
"contratado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,532 in our Spanish list, against #23,001 for "contratan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contratado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contratan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #211,525 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contratado" and "contratan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrastan vs contratan". 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 #211,525 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