aceptabanvsacercabanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“aceptaban” and “acercaban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,386
“aceptaban” frequency rank
#29,901
“acercaban” frequency rank
63287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aceptaban acercaban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de aceptar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de acercar o de acercarse.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
aceptaban
9 ch
acercaban

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aceptaban ([asepˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and acercaban ([aseɾˈkaβ̞ãn]) 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 63287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aceptaban is recorded at frequency rank #33,386, classified as averb, pronounced [asepˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. acercaban is at rank #29,901, tagged as averb, pronounced [aseɾˈkaβ̞ãn].

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 63287, this pair ranks #49,230 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aceptaban vs acercaban

Shared letters: abcen. Private to "aceptaban": pt. Private to "acercaban": r.

"aceptaban" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC  ·  "acercaban" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aceptabanacceptaban · acepatban · acepptaban · aceptaabn · aceptabann · aceptabban · aceptabna · aceptavan
  • acercabanaccercaban · acecraban · aceracban · acercaabn · acercabann · acercabban · acercabna · acercavan

Frequency comparison

aceptaban#33,386
acercaban#29,901

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aceptaban" and "acercaban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([asepˈt̪aβ̞ãn] versus [aseɾˈkaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aceptaban" or "acercaban"?
"acercaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,901 in our Spanish list, against #33,386 for "aceptaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aceptaban vs acercaban

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aceptaban” 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