contactvscontactoWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contact and contacto apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
contact
8 ch
contacto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • contactccontact · cnotact · conatct · conntact · contacct · contactt · contatc · contcat
  • contactoccontacto · cnotacto · conatcto · conntacto · contaccto · contacot · contactto · contatco

Frequency comparison

contact#19,663
contacto#4,803

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contact" and "contacto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɔ̃takt/ versus /kõ.ˈtak.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contact" or "contacto"?
"contacto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,803 in our Portuguese list, against #19,663 for "contact". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contact vs contacto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “contact” 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