acortavsAlcortaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: acorta is a verb, Alcorta is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“acorta” is a verb and “Alcorta” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,903
“acorta” frequency rank
#41,177
“Alcorta” frequency rank
88080
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acorta Alcorta
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acortar o de acortarse. Apellido.

Where the eye mixes acorta and Alcorta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. acorta runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against Alcorta's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
acorta
7 ch
Alcorta

Visual trap between acorta and Alcorta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acorta is [aˈkoɾt̪a] while Alcorta is [alˈkoɾt̪a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acorta is recorded at frequency rank #46,903, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkoɾt̪a]. Alcorta is at rank #41,177, tagged as aname, pronounced [alˈkoɾt̪a].

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 88080, this pair ranks #4,020 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of acorta vs Alcorta

Shared letters: acort. Private to "acorta": -. Private to "Alcorta": l.

"acorta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "Alcorta" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acorta ← accorta · acorat · acorrta · acortta · acrota · aocrta · caorta
  • Alcorta ← aclorta · alccorta · alcorat · alcorrta · alcortta · alcotra · alcrota · allcorta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "acorta" for "Alcorta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acorta" is a verb and "Alcorta" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acorta" or "Alcorta"?
"Alcorta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,177 in our Spanish list, against #46,903 for "acorta". 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 "acorta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Alcorta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,020 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acorta" and "Alcorta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acorta vs adorna". 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 #4,020 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