acercabavsacercasConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,744
“acercaba” frequency rank
#30,728
“acercas” frequency rank
45472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acercaba acercas
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de acercar o de acercarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de acercar o de acercarse.

Where the eye mixes acercaba and acercas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
acercaba
7 ch
acercas

Why the eye confuses acercaba with acercas

A purely visual mix-up. acercaba ([aseɾˈkaβ̞a]) and acercas ([aˈseɾkas]) 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 45472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acercaba is recorded at frequency rank #14,744, classified as averb, pronounced [aseɾˈkaβ̞a]. acercas is at rank #30,728, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈseɾkas].

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 45472, this pair ranks #131,260 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acercaba vs acercas

Shared letters: acer. Private to "acercaba": b. Private to "acercas": s.

"acercaba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "acercas" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acercabaaccercaba · acecraba · aceracba · acercaab · acercabba · acercava · acercbaa · acerccaba
  • acercasaccercas · acecras · aceracs · acercass · acerccas · acercsa · acerrcas · acrecas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acercaba" and "acercas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aseɾˈkaβ̞a] versus [aˈseɾkas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "acercaba" vs "acercas" - which ranks higher?
"acercaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,744 in our Spanish list, against #30,728 for "acercas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "acercaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "acercas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,260 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acercaba" and "acercas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acercará vs acercas". 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 #131,260 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list