acontecevsacontecióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,179
“acontece” frequency rank
#33,388
“aconteció” frequency rank
64567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acontece aconteció
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acontecer. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de acontecer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
acontece
9 ch
aconteció

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acontece ([akõn̪ˈt̪ese]) and aconteció ([akõn̪t̪eˈsjo]) 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 64567, 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]. aconteció is at rank #33,388, tagged as averb, pronounced [akõn̪t̪eˈsjo].

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 64567, this pair ranks #45,207 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of acontece vs aconteció

Shared letters: acenot. Private to "acontece": -. Private to "aconteció": .

"acontece" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "aconteció" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aconteceaccontece · acnotece · aconetce · aconntece · acontcee · acontecce · aconteec · acontese

Frequency comparison

acontece#31,179
aconteció#33,388

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acontece" and "aconteció" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([akõn̪ˈt̪ese] versus [akõn̪t̪eˈsjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acontece" or "aconteció"?
"acontece" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,179 in our Spanish list, against #33,388 for "aconteció". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acontece vs aconteció

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