Which to use
“contact” and “contacto” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,663
- “contact” frequency rank
- #4,803
- “contacto” frequency rank
- 24466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contact | contacto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contato; contacto | o fato de contactar |
Where the eye mixes contact and contacto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. contact runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against contacto's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses contact with contacto
A purely visual mix-up. contact (/kɔ̃takt/) and contacto (/kõ.ˈtak.tu/) 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 extra letter(s) - “contact” sits inside “contacto”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contact is recorded at frequency rank #19,663, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɔ̃takt/. contacto is at rank #4,803, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kõ.ˈtak.tu/.
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 24466, this pair ranks #45,145 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contact vs contacto
Shared letters: acnot. Private to "contact": -. Private to "contacto": -.
"contact" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "contacto" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contact" for "contacto" ever safe?
Which is more common, "contact" or "contacto"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "contact" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contacto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,145 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contact" and "contacto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contact vs contest". 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 #45,145 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.