contratasvscontratoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: contratas is a verb, contrato is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“contratas” is a verb and “contrato” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,025
“contratas” frequency rank
#1,261
“contrato” frequency rank
39286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contratas contrato
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de contratar. Acuerdo de palabra o por escrito mediante el que las partes implicadas se obligan mutuamente a llevar a cabo lo pactado y cuyo incumplimiento puede llevar a su ejecución forzada o a través de algún tipo de autoridad.

Where the eye mixes contratas and contrato

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
contratas
8 ch
contrato

Visual trap between contratas and contrato

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contratas is [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪as] while contrato is [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contratas is recorded at frequency rank #38,025, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪as]. contrato is at rank #1,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾat̪o].

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 39286, this pair ranks #165,402 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contratas vs contrato

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contratas": s. Private to "contrato": -.

"contratas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "contrato" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contratasccontratas · cnotratas · conntratas · conrtatas · contartas · contraats · contratass · contratsa
  • contratoccontrato · cnotrato · conntrato · conrtato · contarto · contraot · contratto · contrrato

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "contratas" and "contrato" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contratas" is a verb and "contrato" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "contratas" or "contrato" show up more?
"contrato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,261 in our Spanish list, against #38,025 for "contratas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "contratas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contrato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #165,402 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contratas" and "contrato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contratamos vs contratas". 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 #165,402 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