aceitarvsacertarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,695
“aceitar” frequency rank
#5,590
“acertar” frequency rank
7285
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aceitar acertar
Definition concordar em receber algo que é dado pôr acerto em

Where the eye mixes aceitar and acertar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aceitar (VCVVCVC) and acertar (VCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
aceitar
7 ch
acertar

Why the eye confuses aceitar with acertar

A purely visual mix-up. aceitar (/ɐ.sɐj.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 differ by a single letter - i in “aceitar” becomes r in “acertar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aceitar is recorded at frequency rank #1,695, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.sɐj.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 7285, this pair ranks #66,878 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aceitar vs acertar

Shared letters: acert. Private to "aceitar": i. Private to "acertar": -.

"aceitar" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC  ·  "acertar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aceitar ← acceitar · aceiatr · aceitarr · aceitra · aceittar · acetiar · acietar · aecitar
  • acertar ← accertar · aceratr · acerrtar · acertarr · acertra · acerttar · acetrar · acretar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aceitar" and "acertar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.sɐj.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, "aceitar" or "acertar"?
"aceitar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,695 in our Portuguese list, against #5,590 for "acertar". 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 "aceitar" and "acertar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aceitar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "acertar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,878 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aceitar" and "acertar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acentuar vs acertar". 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 #66,878 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list