controlanvscontroloConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#11,382
“controlan” frequency rank
#36,491
“controlo” frequency rank
47873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature controlan controlo
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse.

Where the eye mixes controlan and controlo

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

9 ch
controlan
8 ch
controlo

Look-alike desk: controlan vs controlo

A purely visual mix-up. controlan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]) and controlo ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolo]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47873, 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]. controlo is at rank #36,491, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolo].

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 47873, this pair ranks #117,604 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of controlan vs controlo

Shared letters: clnort. Private to "controlan": a. Private to "controlo": -.

"controlan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "controlo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • controlanccontrolan · cnotrolan · conntrolan · conrtolan · contorlan · contrloan · controaln · controlann
  • controloccontrolo · cnotrolo · conntrolo · conrtolo · contorlo · contrloo · controllo · controol

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "controlan" and "controlo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "controlan" or "controlo" show up more?
"controlan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,382 in our Spanish list, against #36,491 for "controlo". 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 "controlan" and "controlo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "controlan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #117,604 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "controlan" and "controlo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlen vs controlo". 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 #117,604 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