aguantarvsapuntarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,578
“aguantar” frequency rank
#11,162
“apuntar” frequency rank
16740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aguantar apuntar
Definition Mantenerse en una posición o actitud a pesar de contratiempos o embates. Dirigir un arma hacia un objetivo.

Where the eye mixes aguantar and apuntar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aguantar runs 8 letters (VCVVCCVC) against apuntar's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
aguantar
7 ch
apuntar

Why the eye confuses aguantar with apuntar

A purely visual mix-up. aguantar ([aɣ̞wãn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and apuntar ([apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) 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 16740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aguantar is recorded at frequency rank #5,578, classified as averb, pronounced [aɣ̞wãn̪ˈt̪aɾ]. apuntar is at rank #11,162, tagged as averb, pronounced [apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ].

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 16740, this pair ranks #274,954 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aguantar vs apuntar

Shared letters: anrtu. Private to "aguantar": g. Private to "apuntar": p.

"aguantar" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC  ·  "apuntar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aguantaragauntar · agguantar · aguanatr · aguanntar · aguantarr · aguantra · aguanttar · aguatnar
  • apuntarapnutar · appuntar · apunatr · apunntar · apuntarr · apuntra · apunttar · aputnar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aguantar" for "apuntar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aɣ̞wãn̪ˈt̪aɾ] versus [apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aguantar" vs "apuntar" - which ranks higher?
"aguantar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,578 in our Spanish list, against #11,162 for "apuntar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aguantar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apuntar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #274,954 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aguantar" and "apuntar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apuntalar vs apuntar". 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 #274,954 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