contactar vs contacto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“contactar” is a verb and “contacto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,837
“contactar” frequency rank: #4,803
“contacto” frequency rank: 16640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	contactar	contacto
Definition	ter contato:	o fato de contactar

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch

contactar

8 ch

contacto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contactar is /kõ.tɐˈk.taɾ/ while contacto is /kõ.ˈtak.tu/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contactar is recorded at frequency rank #11,837, classified as averb, pronounced /kõ.tɐˈk.taɾ/. 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 16640, this pair ranks #54,847 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contactar vs contacto

Shared letters: acnot. Private to "contactar": r. Private to "contacto": -.

"contactar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "contacto" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

contactar ← ccontactar · cnotactar · conatctar · conntactar · contacatr · contacctar · contactarr · contactra
contacto ← ccontacto · cnotacto · conatcto · conntacto · contaccto · contacot · contactto · contatco

Frequency comparison

contactar#11,837

contacto#4,803

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contactar" and "contacto" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contactar" is a verb and "contacto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "contactar" or "contacto"?

"contacto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,803 in our Portuguese list, against #11,837 for "contactar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contactar vs contacto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “contactar”; for a noun, it's “contacto”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “contactar” entry
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