Which to use
“contratan” and “contraten” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,001
- “contratan” frequency rank
- #35,432
- “contraten” frequency rank
- 58433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contratan | contraten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de contratar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de contratar. |
Where the eye mixes contratan and contraten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. contratan and contraten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses contratan with contraten
A purely visual mix-up. contratan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn]) and contraten ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ẽn]) 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 a single letter - a in “contratan” becomes e in “contraten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contratan is recorded at frequency rank #23,001, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ãn]. contraten is at rank #35,432, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪ẽn].
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 58433, this pair ranks #66,443 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contratan vs contraten
Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contratan": -. Private to "contraten": e.
"contratan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "contraten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contratan" and "contraten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contratan" or "contraten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "contratan" and "contraten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contratan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contraten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,443 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contratan" and "contraten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contrastan vs contraten". 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 #66,443 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.