apicalvsaplicarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: apical is a adjective, aplicar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“apical” is an adjective and “aplicar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,212
“apical” frequency rank
#2,861
“aplicar” frequency rank
51073
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apical aplicar
Definition Que pertenece o concierne al ápice o punta de algo. Poner una cosa sobre o en contacto de otra.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set apical and aplicar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
apical
7 ch
aplicar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apical is [apiˈkal] while aplicar is [apliˈkaɾ]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apical is recorded at frequency rank #48,212, classified as anadj, pronounced [apiˈkal]. aplicar is at rank #2,861, tagged as averb, pronounced [apliˈkaɾ].

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 51073, this pair ranks #99,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apical vs aplicar

Shared letters: acilp. Private to "apical": -. Private to "aplicar": r.

"apical" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "aplicar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apicalaipcal · apcial · apiacl · apicall · apiccal · apicla · appical · paical
  • aplicaralpicar · apilcar · aplciar · apliacr · aplicarr · apliccar · aplicra · apllicar

Frequency comparison

apical#48,212
aplicar#2,861

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "apical" and "aplicar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "apical" is an adjective and "aplicar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "apical" or "aplicar"?
"aplicar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,861 in our Spanish list, against #48,212 for "apical". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering apical vs aplicar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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