contatarvscontratarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,977
“contatar” frequency rank
#5,931
“contratar” frequency rank
22908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contatar contratar
Definition ter contato: combinar, ajustar

Letter map: contatar vs contratar

Shared letters muted; letters that set contatar and contratar apart highlighted. Shared run: 8. contatar runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against contratar's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
contatar
9 ch
contratar

Pair insight - contatar / contratar

contatar and contratar are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contatar is recorded at frequency rank #16,977, classified as averb. contratar is at rank #5,931, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.tɾɐ.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 22908, this pair ranks #47,023 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contatar vs contratar

Shared letters: acnort. Private to "contatar": -. Private to "contratar": -.

"contatar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "contratar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contatar ← ccontatar · cnotatar · conattar · conntatar · contaatr · contatarr · contatra · contattar
  • contratar ← ccontratar · cnotratar · conntratar · conrtatar · contartar · contraatr · contratarr · contratra

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contatar" and "contratar" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "contatar" vs "contratar" - which ranks higher?
"contratar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,931 in our Portuguese list, against #16,977 for "contatar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "contatar" and "contratar".

  • Full dictionary entry for "contatar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contratar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,023 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "contatar" and "contratar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cantata vs contatar". 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 #47,023 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list