continentevscontingenteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,253
“continente” frequency rank
#12,851
“contingente” frequency rank
16104
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature continente contingente
Definition que tem continência possível, mas não certo; incidental; casual

Where the eye mixes continente and contingente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. continente runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCV) against contingente's 11 (CVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
continente
11 ch
contingente

Visual trap between continente and contingente

A purely visual mix-up. continente (/kõ.ti.ˈnẽ.tɨ/) and contingente (/kõ.tĩ.ˈʒẽ.tɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

continente is recorded at frequency rank #3,253, classified as anadj, pronounced /kõ.ti.ˈnẽ.tɨ/. contingente is at rank #12,851, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kõ.tĩ.ˈʒẽ.tɨ/.

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 16104, this pair ranks #55,516 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of continente vs contingente

Shared letters: ceinot. Private to "continente": -. Private to "contingente": g.

"continente" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "contingente" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • continente ← ccontinente · cnotinente · conitnente · conntinente · contiennte · continenet · continennte · continentte
  • contingente ← ccontingente · cnotingente · conitngente · conntingente · contignente · continegnte · contingenet · contingennte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "continente" for "contingente" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/kõ.ti.ˈnẽ.tɨ/ versus /kõ.tĩ.ˈʒẽ.tɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "continente" vs "contingente" - which ranks higher?
"continente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,253 in our Portuguese list, against #12,851 for "contingente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "continente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "contingente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,516 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "continente" and "contingente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "condizente vs continente". 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 #55,516 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