contratadosvscontroladosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,420
“contratados” frequency rank
#12,562
“controlados” frequency rank
25982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contratados controlados
Definition Forma del plural de contratado, participio de contratar. Forma del plural de controlado, participio de controlar o de controlarse.

Where the eye mixes contratados and controlados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. contratados and controlados follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
contratados
11 ch
controlados

Why the eye confuses contratados with controlados

A purely visual mix-up. contratados ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os]) and controlados ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞os]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contratados is recorded at frequency rank #13,420, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os]. controlados is at rank #12,562, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞os].

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 25982, this pair ranks #233,883 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contratados vs controlados

Shared letters: acdnorst. Private to "contratados": -. Private to "controlados": l.

"contratados" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC  ·  "controlados" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contratados ← ccontratados · cnotratados · conntratados · conrtatados · contartados · contraatdos · contrataddos · contratadoss
  • controlados ← ccontrolados · cnotrolados · conntrolados · conrtolados · contorlados · contrloados · controaldos · controladdos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contratados" and "controlados" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪að̞os] versus [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contratados" or "controlados"?
"controlados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,562 in our Spanish list, against #13,420 for "contratados". 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 "contratados" and "controlados" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contratados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #233,883 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contratados" and "controlados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contratados vs contratamos". 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 #233,883 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