conavscontraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cona is a noun, contra is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cona” is a noun and “contra” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,891
“cona” frequency rank
#160
“contra” frequency rank
31051
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cona contra
Definition genitália feminina em oposição a

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cona and contra apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cona
6 ch
contra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cona is /'ko.nɐ/ while contra is /ˈkõ.tɾɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cona is recorded at frequency rank #30,891, classified as anoun, pronounced /'ko.nɐ/. contra is at rank #160, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ˈkõ.tɾɐ/.

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 31051, this pair ranks #37,160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cona vs contra

Shared letters: acno. Private to "cona": -. Private to "contra": rt.

"cona" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "contra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conaccona · cnoa · coan · conna · ocna
  • contraccontra · cnotra · conntra · conrta · contrra · conttra · cotnra · ocntra

Frequency comparison

cona#30,891
contra#160

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cona" and "contra" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cona" is a noun and "contra" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cona" or "contra"?
"contra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #160 in our Portuguese list, against #30,891 for "cona". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cona vs contra

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cona”; for a preposition, it's “contra”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cona” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list