acertarvsapartarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,108
“acertar” frequency rank
#19,916
“apartar” frequency rank
45024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acertar apartar
Definition Dar en el lugar, sitio o punto propuesto o previsto. Alejar de un lugar o idea, desviar, echar, a un lado.

Where the eye mixes acertar and apartar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. acertar and apartar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
acertar
7 ch
apartar

Look-alike desk: acertar vs apartar

A purely visual mix-up. acertar ([aseɾˈt̪aɾ]) and apartar ([apaɾˈt̪aɾ]) 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 45024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acertar is recorded at frequency rank #25,108, classified as averb, pronounced [aseɾˈt̪aɾ]. apartar is at rank #19,916, tagged as averb, pronounced [apaɾˈt̪aɾ].

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 45024, this pair ranks #133,793 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acertar vs apartar

Shared letters: art. Private to "acertar": ce. Private to "apartar": p.

"acertar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "apartar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acertar ← accertar · aceratr · acerrtar · acertarr · acertra · acerttar · acetrar · acretar
  • apartar ← aaprtar · aparatr · aparrtar · apartarr · apartra · aparttar · apatrar · appartar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "acertar" and "apartar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aseɾˈt̪aɾ] versus [apaɾˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acertar" or "apartar"?
"apartar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,916 in our Spanish list, against #25,108 for "acertar". 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 "acertar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apartar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #133,793 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acertar" and "apartar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acercará vs acertar". 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 #133,793 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