contactar vs contagiar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“contactar” and “contagiar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,837
“contactar” frequency rank: #42,849
“contagiar” frequency rank: 54686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	contactar	contagiar
Definition	ter contato:	propagar por meio de contágio (doença)

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch

contactar

9 ch

contagiar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. contactar (/kõ.tɐˈk.taɾ/) and contagiar (/kõⁿ.ta.ʒɪ.ˈaɾ/, /kõⁿ.ta.ˈʒjaɾ/, /kõⁿ.ta.ʒɪ.ˈa/, /kõⁿ.ta.ˈʒja/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54686, 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/. contagiar is at rank #42,849, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõⁿ.ta.ʒɪ.ˈaɾ/, /kõⁿ.ta.ˈʒjaɾ/, /kõⁿ.ta.ʒɪ.ˈa/, /kõⁿ.ta.ˈʒja/.

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 54686, this pair ranks #11,097 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contactar vs contagiar

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contactar": -. Private to "contagiar": gi.

"contactar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "contagiar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

contactar ← ccontactar · cnotactar · conatctar · conntactar · contacatr · contacctar · contactarr · contactra
contagiar ← ccontagiar · cnotagiar · conatgiar · conntagiar · contagair · contaggiar · contagiarr · contagira

Frequency comparison

contactar#11,837

contagiar#42,849

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No. They are said differently (/kõ.tɐˈk.taɾ/ versus /kõⁿ.ta.ʒɪ.ˈaɾ/, /kõⁿ.ta.ˈʒjaɾ/, /kõⁿ.ta.ʒɪ.ˈa/, /kõⁿ.ta.ˈʒja/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

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

"contactar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,837 in our Portuguese list, against #42,849 for "contagiar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contactar vs contagiar

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 “contactar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable