constarvscontarConfusable pair

Which to use

“constar” and “contar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,409
“constar” frequency rank
#740
“contar” frequency rank
13149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature constar contar
Definition estar escrito, incluído ou mencionado enumerar os elementos de uma série

Where the eye mixes constar and contar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
constar
6 ch
contar

Visual trap between constar and contar

A purely visual mix-up. constar (/kõʃ.ˈtaɾ/) and contar (/kõ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 13149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

constar is recorded at frequency rank #12,409, classified as averb, pronounced /kõʃ.ˈtaɾ/. contar is at rank #740, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 13149, this pair ranks #59,296 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of constar vs contar

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "constar": s. Private to "contar": -.

"constar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "contar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • constarcconstar · cnostar · connstar · consatr · consstar · constarr · constra · consttar
  • contarccontar · cnotar · conatr · conntar · contarr · conttar · cotnar · ocntar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "constar" and "contar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kõʃ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /kõ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "constar" or "contar"?
"contar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #740 in our Portuguese list, against #12,409 for "constar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "constar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,296 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "constar" and "contar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constar vs consumar". 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 #59,296 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list