acusavsagujaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: acusa is a verb, aguja is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“acusa” is a verb and “aguja” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,858
“acusa” frequency rank
#10,095
“aguja” frequency rank
16953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acusa aguja
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acusar o de acusarse. Barrita puntiaguda de metal, hueso o madera con un ojo por donde se pasa el hilo, cuerda, etc., con que se cose, borda o teje.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acusa and aguja apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
acusa
5 ch
aguja

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acusa is [aˈkusa] while aguja is [aˈɣ̞uxa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acusa is recorded at frequency rank #6,858, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkusa]. aguja is at rank #10,095, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈɣ̞uxa].

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 16953, this pair ranks #274,114 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acusa vs aguja

Shared letters: au. Private to "acusa": cs. Private to "aguja": gj.

"acusa" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "aguja" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acusaaccusa · acsua · acuas · acussa · aucsa
  • agujaagguja · agjua · aguaj · agujja · augja · gauja

Frequency comparison

acusa#6,858
aguja#10,095

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acusa" and "aguja" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acusa" is a verb and "aguja" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acusa" or "aguja"?
"acusa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,858 in our Spanish list, against #10,095 for "aguja". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acusa vs aguja

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “acusa”; for a noun, it's “aguja”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acusa” 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