apostóvsapretóWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,757
“apostó” frequency rank
#31,204
“apretó” frequency rank
61961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apostó apretó
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de apostar o de apostarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de apretar.

Where the eye mixes apostó and apretó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. apostó (VCVCCV) and apretó (VCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
apostó
6 ch
apretó

Visual trap between apostó and apretó

A purely visual mix-up. apostó ([aposˈt̪o]) and apretó ([apɾeˈt̪o]) 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 61961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apostó is recorded at frequency rank #30,757, classified as averb, pronounced [aposˈt̪o]. apretó is at rank #31,204, tagged as averb, pronounced [apɾeˈt̪o].

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 61961, this pair ranks #53,687 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apostó vs apretó

Shared letters: aptó. Private to "apostó": os. Private to "apretó": er.

"apostó" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "apretó" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "apostó" and "apretó" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aposˈt̪o] versus [apɾeˈt̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "apostó" or "apretó" show up more?
"apostó" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,757 in our Spanish list, against #31,204 for "apretó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "apostó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apretó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,687 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apostó" and "apretó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apreté vs apretó". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #53,687 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