contestvscontestarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: contest is a noun, contestar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,803
“contest” frequency rank
#20,834
“contestar” frequency rank
48637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contest contestar
Definition competição, concurso contradizer, refutar

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
contest
9 ch
contestar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: contest is anoun and contestaraverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “contest” sits inside “contestar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contest is recorded at frequency rank #27,803, classified as anoun. contestar is at rank #20,834, tagged as averb, pronounced /kõ.tɨʃ.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 48637, this pair ranks #16,530 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contest vs contestar

Shared letters: cenost. Private to "contest": -. Private to "contestar": ar.

"contest" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "contestar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • contestccontest · cnotest · conetst · conntest · contesst · contestt · contets · contset
  • contestarccontestar · cnotestar · conetstar · conntestar · contesatr · contesstar · contestarr · contestra

Frequency comparison

contest#27,803
contestar#20,834

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contest" and "contestar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "contest" is a noun and "contestar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "contest" or "contestar"?
"contestar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,834 in our Portuguese list, against #27,803 for "contest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contest vs contestar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “contest”; for a verb, it's “contestar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “contest” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list