Which to use
“acercar” and “acortar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,999
- “acercar” frequency rank
- #26,683
- “acortar” frequency rank
- 41682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acercar | acortar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poner más cerca o menos lejos. | Hacer más corto. Disminuir en longitud, extensión, duración, tiempo o cantidad. |
Where the eye mixes acercar and acortar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. acercar and acortar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses acercar with acortar
A purely visual mix-up. acercar ([aseɾˈkaɾ]) and acortar ([akoɾˈt̪aɾ]) 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 41682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acercar is recorded at frequency rank #14,999, classified as averb, pronounced [aseɾˈkaɾ]. acortar is at rank #26,683, tagged as averb, pronounced [akoɾˈt̪aɾ].
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 41682, this pair ranks #152,301 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of acercar vs acortar
Shared letters: acr. Private to "acercar": e. Private to "acortar": ot.
"acercar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "acortar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "acercar" and "acortar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "acercar" or "acortar"?
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 "acercar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "acortar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,301 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acercar" and "acortar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acorta vs acortar". 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 #152,301 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.