Which to use
“acaba” and “actúa” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,232
- “acaba” frequency rank
- #4,571
- “actúa” frequency rank
- 5803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acaba | actúa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acabar. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de actuar. |
Where the eye mixes acaba and actúa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: acaba vs actúa
A purely visual mix-up. acaba ([aˈkaβ̞a]) and actúa ([akˈt̪ua]) 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 5803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acaba is recorded at frequency rank #1,232, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞a]. actúa is at rank #4,571, tagged as averb, pronounced [akˈt̪ua].
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 5803, this pair ranks #312,616 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of acaba vs actúa
Shared letters: ac. Private to "acaba": b. Private to "actúa": tú.
"acaba" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "actúa" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- acaba ← aacba · acaab · acabba · acava · acbaa · accaba · caaba
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "acaba" and "actúa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "acaba" or "actúa"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "acaba" and "actúa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "acaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "actúa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #312,616 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acaba" and "actúa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "actúa vs anta". 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 #312,616 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.