afectavsapestaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,643
“afecta” frequency rank
#19,625
“apesta” frequency rank
22268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature afecta apesta
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de afectar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apestar.

Where the eye mixes afecta and apesta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
afecta
6 ch
apesta

Visual trap between afecta and apesta

A purely visual mix-up. afecta ([aˈfekt̪a]) and apesta ([aˈpest̪a]) 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 22268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

afecta is recorded at frequency rank #2,643, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈfekt̪a]. apesta is at rank #19,625, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈpest̪a].

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 22268, this pair ranks #251,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of afecta vs apesta

Shared letters: aet. Private to "afecta": cf. Private to "apesta": ps.

"afecta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "apesta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • afectaaefcta · afceta · afecat · afeccta · afectta · afetca · affecta · faecta
  • apestaaepsta · apesat · apessta · apestta · apetsa · appesta · apseta · paesta

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "afecta" and "apesta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈfekt̪a] versus [aˈpest̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "afecta" or "apesta"?
"afecta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,643 in our Spanish list, against #19,625 for "apesta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "afecta" and "apesta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "afecta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apesta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "afecta" and "apesta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apesta vs arresta". 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 #251,117 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