controlanvscontrolarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#11,382
“controlan” frequency rank
#2,202
“controlar” frequency rank
13584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature controlan controlar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse. Tener el control sobre algo o alguien, ejercer el dominio sobre algo o alguien.

Where the eye mixes controlan and controlar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
controlan
9 ch
controlar

Why the eye confuses controlan with controlar

A purely visual mix-up. controlan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]) and controlar ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaɾ]) 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 - n in “controlan” becomes r in “controlar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

controlan is recorded at frequency rank #11,382, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]. controlar is at rank #2,202, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaɾ].

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 13584, this pair ranks #287,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of controlan vs controlar

Shared letters: aclnort. Private to "controlan": -. Private to "controlar": -.

"controlan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "controlar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • controlanccontrolan · cnotrolan · conntrolan · conrtolan · contorlan · contrloan · controaln · controlann
  • controlarccontrolar · cnotrolar · conntrolar · conrtolar · contorlar · contrloar · controalr · controlarr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "controlan" for "controlar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn] versus [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "controlan" vs "controlar" - which ranks higher?
"controlar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,202 in our Spanish list, against #11,382 for "controlan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "controlan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #287,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "controlan" and "controlar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlaban vs controlan". 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 #287,305 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