abortar vs acertar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“abortar” and “acertar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,175
“abortar” frequency rank: #5,590
“acertar” frequency rank: 25765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	abortar	acertar
Definition	produzir antes do tempo	pôr acerto em

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

abortar

7 ch

acertar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abortar (/ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and acertar (/ɐ.sɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 25765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abortar is recorded at frequency rank #20,175, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/. acertar is at rank #5,590, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.sɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 25765, this pair ranks #43,485 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abortar vs acertar

Shared letters: art. Private to "abortar": bo. Private to "acertar": ce.

"abortar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "acertar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

abortar ← abbortar · aboratr · aborrtar · abortarr · abortra · aborttar · abotrar · abrotar
acertar ← accertar · aceratr · acerrtar · acertarr · acertra · acerttar · acetrar · acretar

Frequency comparison

abortar#20,175

acertar#5,590

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abortar" and "acertar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɐ.buɾ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /ɐ.sɨɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "abortar" or "acertar"?

"acertar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,590 in our Portuguese list, against #20,175 for "abortar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abortar vs acertar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abortar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable