Which to use
“contar” is a verb and “contre” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #740
- “contar” frequency rank
- #45,771
- “contre” frequency rank
- 46511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contar | contre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | enumerar os elementos de uma série | contra, encostado em, perto de, próximo a: |
Where the eye mixes contar and contre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. contar (CVCCVC) and contre (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between contar and contre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: contar is /kõ.ˈtaɾ/ while contre is /kɔ̃tʁ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contar is recorded at frequency rank #740, classified as averb, pronounced /kõ.ˈtaɾ/. contre is at rank #45,771, tagged as aprep, pronounced /kɔ̃tʁ/.
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 46511, this pair ranks #18,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of contar vs contre
Shared letters: cnort. Private to "contar": a. Private to "contre": e.
"contar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "contre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contar" and "contre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "contar" or "contre" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "contar" and "contre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "contar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contar" and "contre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coentro vs contre". 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 #18,784 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.