contratamosvscontrataronWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,838
“contratamos” frequency rank
#21,617
“contrataron” frequency rank
67455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contratamos contrataron
Definition Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de contratar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de contratar.

Where the eye mixes contratamos and contrataron

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

11 ch
contratamos
11 ch
contrataron

Why the eye confuses contratamos with contrataron

A purely visual mix-up. contratamos ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪amos]) and contrataron ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾõn]) 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 67455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contratamos is recorded at frequency rank #45,838, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪amos]. contrataron is at rank #21,617, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾõn].

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 67455, this pair ranks #37,067 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contratamos vs contrataron

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contratamos": ms. Private to "contrataron": -.

"contratamos" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC  ·  "contrataron" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contratamosccontratamos · cnotratamos · conntratamos · conrtatamos · contartamos · contraatmos · contratammos · contratamoss
  • contrataronccontrataron · cnotrataron · conntrataron · conrtataron · contartaron · contraatron · contrataorn · contratarno

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contratamos" and "contrataron" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪amos] versus [kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contratamos" or "contrataron" show up more?
"contrataron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,617 in our Spanish list, against #45,838 for "contratamos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "contratamos" and "contrataron" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contratamos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contrataron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,067 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contratamos" and "contrataron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contratamos vs controlamos". 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 #37,067 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