contratamosvscontrolamosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,838
“contratamos” frequency rank
#44,658
“controlamos” frequency rank
90496
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contratamos controlamos
Definition Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de contratar. Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse.

Where the eye mixes contratamos and controlamos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. contratamos and controlamos 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
controlamos

Why the eye confuses contratamos with controlamos

A purely visual mix-up. contratamos ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪amos]) and controlamos ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlamos]) 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 90496, 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]. controlamos is at rank #44,658, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlamos].

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 90496, this pair ranks #2,478 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contratamos vs controlamos

Shared letters: acmnorst. Private to "contratamos": -. Private to "controlamos": l.

"contratamos" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC  ·  "controlamos" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contratamosccontratamos · cnotratamos · conntratamos · conrtatamos · contartamos · contraatmos · contratammos · contratamoss
  • controlamosccontrolamos · cnotrolamos · conntrolamos · conrtolamos · contorlamos · contrloamos · controalmos · controlammos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contratamos" and "controlamos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾaˈt̪amos] versus [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlamos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contratamos" or "controlamos"?
"controlamos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,658 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "contratamos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlamos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,478 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contratamos" and "controlamos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contratadas 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 #2,478 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