Which to use
“contact” is a noun and “contar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,663
- “contact” frequency rank
- #740
- “contar” frequency rank
- 20403
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contact | contar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contato; contacto | enumerar os elementos de uma série |
Where the eye mixes contact and contar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. contact runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against contar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: contact vs contar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contact is /kɔ̃takt/ while contar is /kõ.ˈtaɾ/. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20403, 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/. 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 20403, this pair ranks #50,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contact vs contar
Shared letters: acnot. Private to "contact": -. Private to "contar": r.
"contact" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "contar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "contact" for "contar" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "contact" or "contar" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "contact" 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 #50,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contact" and "contar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clonar vs contar". 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 #50,133 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.