apestavsapuntaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,625
“apesta” frequency rank
#4,764
“apunta” frequency rank
24389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apesta apunta
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apestar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apuntar o de apuntarse.

Where the eye mixes apesta and apunta

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

6 ch
apesta
6 ch
apunta

Look-alike desk: apesta vs apunta

A purely visual mix-up. apesta ([aˈpest̪a]) and apunta ([aˈpũn̪t̪a]) 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 24389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apesta is recorded at frequency rank #19,625, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈpest̪a]. apunta is at rank #4,764, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈpũn̪t̪a].

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 24389, this pair ranks #241,392 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apesta vs apunta

Shared letters: apt. Private to "apesta": es. Private to "apunta": nu.

"apesta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "apunta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apestaaepsta · apesat · apessta · apestta · apetsa · appesta · apseta · paesta
  • apuntaapnuta · appunta · apunat · apunnta · apuntta · aputna · aupnta · paunta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apesta" for "apunta" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpest̪a] versus [aˈpũn̪t̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "apesta" or "apunta" show up more?
"apunta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,764 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apesta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apunta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #241,392 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apesta" and "apunta" 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 #241,392 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