apuntavsapuntadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,764
“apunta” frequency rank
#15,279
“apuntado” frequency rank
20043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes apunta and apuntado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
apunta
8 ch
apuntado

Look-alike desk: apunta vs apuntado

A purely visual mix-up. apunta ([aˈpũn̪t̪a]) and apuntado ([apũn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “apunta” sits inside “apuntado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apunta is recorded at frequency rank #4,764, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈpũn̪t̪a]. apuntado is at rank #15,279, tagged as averb, pronounced [apũn̪ˈt̪að̞o].

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 20043, this pair ranks #261,047 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of apunta vs apuntado

Shared letters: anptu. Private to "apunta": -. Private to "apuntado": do.

"apunta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "apuntado" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apuntaapnuta · appunta · apunat · apunnta · apuntta · aputna · aupnta · paunta
  • apuntadoapnutado · appuntado · apunatdo · apunntado · apuntaddo · apuntaod · apuntdao · apunttado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apunta" for "apuntado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpũn̪t̪a] versus [apũn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "apunta" or "apuntado"?
"apunta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,764 in our Spanish list, against #15,279 for "apuntado". 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 "apunta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apuntado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #261,047 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apunta" and "apuntado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apenado vs apuntado". 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 #261,047 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