apuntarvsaunarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,162
“apuntar” frequency rank
#40,145
“aunar” frequency rank
51307
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apuntar aunar
Definition Dirigir un arma hacia un objetivo. Unir, poner juntas varias cosas.

Where the eye mixes apuntar and aunar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. apuntar runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against aunar's 5 (VVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
apuntar
5 ch
aunar

Look-alike desk: apuntar vs aunar

A purely visual mix-up. apuntar ([apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and aunar ([awˈnaɾ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apuntar is recorded at frequency rank #11,162, classified as averb, pronounced [apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ]. aunar is at rank #40,145, tagged as averb, pronounced [awˈnaɾ].

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 51307, this pair ranks #98,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apuntar vs aunar

Shared letters: anru. Private to "apuntar": pt. Private to "aunar": -.

"apuntar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "aunar" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apuntar ← apnutar · appuntar · apunatr · apunntar · apuntarr · apuntra · apunttar · aputnar
  • aunar ← anuar · auanr · aunarr · aunnar · aunra · uanar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apuntar" for "aunar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([apũn̪ˈt̪aɾ] versus [awˈnaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "apuntar" or "aunar"?
"apuntar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,162 in our Spanish list, against #40,145 for "aunar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "apuntar" and "aunar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apuntar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aunar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #98,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apuntar" and "aunar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ajuar vs aunar". 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 #98,548 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