acontecevsacontecerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,179
“acontece” frequency rank
#36,380
“acontecer” frequency rank
67559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acontece acontecer
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acontecer. Tener lugar un hecho, evento o suceso.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acontece and acontecer apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
acontece
9 ch
acontecer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acontece ([akõn̪ˈt̪ese]) and acontecer ([akõn̪t̪eˈseɾ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “acontece” sits inside “acontecer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acontece is recorded at frequency rank #31,179, classified as averb, pronounced [akõn̪ˈt̪ese]. acontecer is at rank #36,380, tagged as averb, pronounced [akõn̪t̪eˈseɾ].

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 67559, this pair ranks #36,793 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of acontece vs acontecer

Shared letters: acenot. Private to "acontece": -. Private to "acontecer": r.

"acontece" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "acontecer" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aconteceaccontece · acnotece · aconetce · aconntece · acontcee · acontecce · aconteec · acontese
  • aconteceraccontecer · acnotecer · aconetcer · aconntecer · acontceer · aconteccer · acontecerr · acontecre

Frequency comparison

acontece#31,179
acontecer#36,380

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acontece" and "acontecer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([akõn̪ˈt̪ese] versus [akõn̪t̪eˈseɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acontece" or "acontecer"?
"acontece" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,179 in our Spanish list, against #36,380 for "acontecer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acontece vs acontecer

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 “acontece” 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