Which to use
“conta” is a noun and “contra” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #223
- “conta” frequency rank
- #160
- “contra” frequency rank
- 383
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | conta | contra |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | qualquer operação de aritmética | em oposição a |
Where the eye mixes conta and contra
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between conta and contra
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: conta is /ˈkõ.tɐ/ while contra is /ˈkõ.tɾɐ/. 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 (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
conta is recorded at frequency rank #223, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkõ.tɐ/. 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 383, this pair ranks #75,256 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of conta vs contra
Shared letters: acnot. Private to "conta": -. Private to "contra": r.
"conta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "contra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "conta" for "contra" ever safe?
Frequency check: "conta" vs "contra" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "conta" and "contra" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "conta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,256 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "conta" and "contra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conta vs contre". 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 #75,256 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.